Texans Split on Health Care Decision
The two major parties have different takes on the Supreme Court's ruling. Image courtesy flickr.com/donkeyhoteyAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Reaction in Texas to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the federal health care law mirrored that from around the country.
It was a day of mixed emotions for Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott. Texas and the other states that had sued to overturn the law did not get what they hoped for. But Abbott focused on a part of the ruling that says the federal government can’t withhold money from states that opt out of the law’s Medicaid expansion.
“You have to view this as an historic victory for individual liberty, for states’ rights which Chief Justice Roberts emphasized, as well as for limited government,” Abbott said.
Supporters of the law, like Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, cheered the ruling.
“The fact that Chief Justice Roberts, an appointee of George Bush, wrote that opinion suggests the strength of the constitutional argument in favor of the Affordable Health Care Act,” Doggett said.
The next step in Texas will be creating health care exchanges that help uninsured people find coverage. The law says those exchanges must be up and running by January 2014. If Texas does not have one in place, the federal government will run it until Texas is ready to take over.
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