Don't have health coverage? Yes, it's on him.
The Obama administration is making it very clear in red states that its the states' fault when people fall into the gap between the new health insurance exchanges and expanded Medicaid, because the states are refusing to provide the expanded coverage. They're going to
include that message on the websites for the health insurance exchanges they're creating. But they're also getting increasingly and vocal about how these states are denying care to their citizens.
Case in point: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, taking the message directly to Texas.
The federal government is open to expanding Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act in a way that is more tailored to Texas’ preferences, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday while visiting Austin City Hall.
“We are eager to have discussions with Texas about a program that could look uniquely Texan,” Sebelius said. “But as far as I know, those conversations, at least with the state officials, are not taking place right now.”
Texas, however, isn't interested.
“With due respect, the secretary and our president are missing the point: It's not that Americans don't understand Obamacare, it's that we understand it all too well,” Gov. Rick Perry said in a statement on Sebelius’ visit to Texas. He added that Texas refused to set up a state-run exchange or expand Medicaid in order to minimize the damage that the law would cause to the economy and state budget, “although we're all too aware Obamacare will still cause our state immense budgetary challenges in the years ahead, just like it will to families and small businesses across our country."
So, working poor people in Texas, your governor says, basically, "fuck you." Just because he hates Obama.