Your state could make history with Obamacare—the kind of history you can be proud of. Your state has so much power that the Obama regime will do whatever it can to make sure the federal government trumps it. I’m talking about control over money in the form of tax credits and outlays. For without money handouts, Obamacare will break apart like a ship hung up on the rocks in a Nor’easter.
Here’s the rub. According to Obamacare, tax credits and outlays are only available to participants in state exchanges, not federal ones. The Obama administration recognized this major oversight after the law was written. So the regime proposed an IRS rule to allow tax credits and outlays for federal exchanges.
As Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute, has pointed out, it’s possible the next president could issue an executive order to forbid the IRS from offering premium assistance in federal exchanges. Mitt Romney would then leave it up to the states to determine the fate of Obamacare. For without IRS or federal assistance, the exchanges won’t have enough participants paying in. And if they’re never set up at the state level, the federal exchange will die on the limb without the lifeblood of federal money. That’s why it’s so important that Romney win.
Stop cooperating with the enemy! These governors are taking a stand.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal:
We’re not expanding Medicaid. We’re not implementing the health exchange. Instead we’re going to do everything we can to elect Mitt Romney to repeal this bad law and replace it.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker:
We’re going to wait. For people here in Wisconsin and plenty of other states across the country, we want to put the power back in the hands of the people at the state and the local level, not be driven by a federal mandate.
And in Florida:
Florida Won’t Implement Optional Portions of Obamacare
On July 1, 2012
After reviewing the impact of the Supreme Court ruling that gave Florida the flexibility to legally opt out of implementing one of the costliest provisions of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “ObamaCare,” Governor Rick Scott has decided two major provisions in the law are inconsistent with his mission to grow jobs for Floridians, make sure there is adequate funding for education, and to keep the cost of living as low as possible.
The Affordable Care Act does not require states to take any action before the 2012 general election, and the full law does not take effect until January 1, 2014, provided it is not repealed before that date. Governor Scott, like other state governors, has made it clear that even though Florida will opt out of implementing two major, yet optional, provisions, should there be any legal obligation to implement ObamaCare, the state will follow the law, and if ObamaCare is not repealed by January 1, 2014, Florida will implement and comply with required sections of the Affordable Care Act.
Florida will opt out of spending approximately $1.9 billion more taxpayer dollars required to implement a massive entitlement expansion of the Medicaid program. A second provision in the Affordable Care Act gives Governor Scott the flexibility to opt out of building insurance “exchanges.”
“Floridians are interested in jobs and economic growth, a quality education for their children, and keeping the cost of living low,” Governor Scott said. “Neither of these major provisions in ObamaCare will achieve those goals, and since Florida is legally allowed to opt out, that’s the right decision for our citizens.”
It is important to note that Florida already has health care safety net programs for those with the greatest need, including assistance for families with incomes up to 133% of the poverty line, and Florida KidCare to ensure no child goes without health care in Florida.
But even though the federal government has promised to initially pay 100% of the increase in Medicaid payments for the first three years of ObamaCare, the burden increasingly shifts to Florida taxpayers in future years. Medicaid, which has been growing for years at three-and-a-half times as fast as Florida’s general revenue, will soon grow even faster under ObamaCare, and education funding will be adversely impaired if we do not control the growth in Medicaid spending.
Another provision in the Affordable Care Act gives Governor Scott the flexibility to opt out of building insurance “exchanges” that will result in higher insurance premium costs – more money out of the pockets of Florida’s families and businesses. The Congressional Budget Office has said that insurance premiums available on state exchanges will rise another 10-13% under the rules of ObamaCare. In states already operating insurance exchanges set up under similar rules, health care premiums are substantially more expensive.
“The real problem with health care is that costs continue to rise. That’s why I believe we need more choice for patients, more free-market competition, increased accountability for providers, and incentives for personal responsibility,” said Governor Scott. “These are the things we can do that will hold down health care costs and make it affordable for more people. Unfortunately, ObamaCare care doesn’t do any of those things. In Florida, we are focused on becoming the number one place for businesses so that Floridians have more jobs.”