DALLAS (AP) — They are two key elements of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, but Texas governor Rick Perry says he won't implement them.
Perry sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (seh-BEEL'-yuhs) saying he wouldn't establish an online marketplace for patients to shop for insurance or expand Medicaid. He says both elements "represent brazen intrusions" into his state's sovereignty.
Gov. Perry tells feds Texas won't expand Medicaid. The former presidential candidate goes on to say he "will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government."
Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, with about 6.2 million residents lacking health care insurance. That's about a quarter of the state's population.
The Supreme Court upheld most of the federal health care law last month, although it said the federal government can't withhold states' entire Medicaid allotment if they don't expand Medicaid.
If states choose not to set up a health care exchange, the federal government will establish one for them.
