Emergency Action to Protect Texans Facing Life-Threatening Dangers is NOW Necessary ...

The high risk pool includes some of our most vulnerable Texans who benefit from a private market solution for health care that is now threatened by Obamacare mandates being forced on our state. The subsequent failure of HealthCare.Gov site has left far too many of our vulnerable citizens with no clear path to coverage. Emergency action to protect Texas facing life-threatening dangers is now necessary.

I offer the full powers of my office to assist you in this undertaking. Please let me know how I might be of help as you work to untangle the intractable mess created by an incompetent federal government.

In a letter TO Texas' Department of Insurance FROM Texas' Lieutenant Governor.

www.ltgov.state.tx.us...


I don't believe this Newsworthy Letter dated November 18, 2013 ever hitting the NEWS ... ( better late than never on this one ).

Way to GO ... TEXAS !!!

reply to post by FarleyWayne


Sounds like a political nonsense letter with no real solution or ideas.

This will probably help this guy keep office but as you can see the letter has no real backbone or substance.

I hate politics.

reply to post by OrphanApology


Perhaps this will help:

December 12, 2013 ...

Today, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst issued the following statement in response the Comptroller's report detailing a $2.58 billion surplus in the Texas budget.

www.ltgov.state.tx.us...

Hint: Purse-Strings

So far, Texas has done an end-run around some of these issues concerning Obamacare:

Insurance companies, brokers and consumer advocates say a highly publicized national wave of health plan cancellations largely bypassed Texas.

There are several complex reasons, but one of the biggest is this: Following the example of Arkansas and other Southern states, the Texas Department of Insurance told health insurers in June that they could compress the contractual period of this year’s policies. That meant they could be renewed late this year.

The little-noticed advisory may have steered as many as 2.2 million Texans who are in individual or small-group plans around the federal health care law’s demands for richer benefits and tighter caps on out-of-pocket expenses until almost 2015.

So when President Barack Obama tried to quell a political furor by announcing Nov. 14 that canceled policies could be extended for one more year, it had little practical effect in Texas.

www.dallasnews.com...

How long Texas can dodge this issue is anybody's guess......

OrphanApology
reply to post by FarleyWayne

 

Sounds like a political nonsense letter with no real solution or ideas.

This will probably help this guy keep office but as you can see the letter has no real backbone or substance.

I hate politics.

I get what you're saying, but I do like the idea that Dewhurst called Obamacare exactly what it is. The solution? Repeal this moronic disaster before it goes any farther. As far as I'm concerned, if Texas said they were seceding, I would be totally on board for it. That's how ridiculous the federal government has gotten.

reply to post by FarleyWayne


The Texas surplus is not controlled by Dewhurst's office.

You seem to think the surplus is up for grabs and somehow Dewhurst statement means just that. It doesn't.

FissionSurplus


As far as I'm concerned, if Texas said they were seceding, I would be totally on board for it. That's how ridiculous the federal government has gotten.

If Texas ever makes the announcement, i will move there and claim asylum...

OrphanApology
reply to post by FarleyWayne

 

The Texas surplus is not controlled by Dewhurst's office.

You seem to think the surplus is up for grabs and somehow Dewhurst statement means just that. It doesn't.

I think you are misinterpreting the OP's statements, Orphan. Understand how the Lt. Governor of Texas works:

The Lieutenant Governor in Texas is unique in that he is part of both the Executive and Legislative branches

He has unique powers, he leads the Senate, he can determine how the Senate votes (ie, regarding how to spend money), so in a sense, he wields a great deal of power as per the Texas Constitution.

The Texas Constitution names the Lieutenant Governor the Constitutional President of the Senate, but the Constitution also gives the Senate the authority to write its own rules. That's where the Lieutenant Governor derives most of his power.

These rules, adopted by a majority of Senators at the beginning of each Legislative Session, set down in great detail how business is conducted in the Senate.

Senate rules give the current Lieutenant Governor a great deal of influence in shaping state policy and influencing laws that may eventually be passed by the Senate.
.

www.ltgov.state.tx.us...

This thread is already getting kind of derailed. If you don't understand something, it helps to ask for clarification.

reply to post by OrphanApology

The Lieutenant Governor derives other powers and responsibilities from state statute. By statute, the Lieutenant Governor is a member of several Legislative branch boards and committees: the Legislative Budget Board , the Legislative Council, the Legislative Audit Committee and the Legislative Education Board. He is designated as Chair of the Legislative Budget Board and Legislative Council, which have considerable sway over state programs, the budget and policy.

The Legislative Budget Board, for example, provides the Legislature with a recommended budget at the beginning of every session. In many other states, this is done only in the executive branch. The authority of the Legislative Budget Board is broad, and its influence on spending is significant. By his Chairship and his power to make appointments to the Board, the Lieutenant Governor exerts a powerful influence on public policy.

The Lieutenant Governor is also a member of two Executive branch boards created by statute, the Cash Management Committee and the Bond Review Board.

Last 3 paragraphs of Lt. Governor Dewhurst's ... "Duties": www.ltgov.state.tx.us...

I must continue to suggest: That's VERY Close to the "Purse-Strings".

Wasn't the high risk pools, set up by obamacare, for the transition to obamacare?

reply to post by FarleyWayne


Again, that's not the process of what actually happens here.

Here's a current article in regard to the process that's currently going on in terms of how to spend the surplus:

www.texastribune.org...

It's usually decided by the Texas legislature when in session but there are also public votes for various expenditures.

Also: the OP did post that link to the surplus statement in response to my post that Dewhurst was writing a letter with no backbone or meaning. It is a political letter that calls the federal government incompetent and yet provides no insights into possible solutions. Political move that makes him look like a real fighter but means diddly.

To state that Dewhurst has this giant surplus at his office disposal is incorrect. His office does not control that money. That was what I said at the beginning.

Having a huge influence on spending is different than control of spending. Right now, healthcare is not a high priority budget wise.

I am surprised that more states have not just outright refused any cooperation whatsoever with this broken Obama care joke..

It is like Mr. Obama has signed up every American (except for himself, family, friends, supporters),
To have all the restaurants of each citizen's town deliver all of their daily garbage on each citizen's front lawn, including pet droppings from public places distributed evenly among citizen's homes.

And if you refuse, they threaten financial punishment..

I personally would like to get this idiot into a boxing ring and give him a real and genuine public ass kicking.

LDragonFire
Wasn't the high risk pools, set up by obamacare, for the transition to obamacare?

Do not confuse "high risk pools" through Obamacare, with high risk pools that were already in place prior to Obamacare. It is NOT a new idea.

Even though most Americans get their health insurance through their employer or the employer of a family member (group health insurance), some people do not have access to this type of coverage and buy their own insurance independently. Unlike the group health insurance market, in most states an insurer can turn you down for individual coverage if you have a serious pre-existing medical condition (e.g., cancer, HIV) that would make you uninsurable. States are not required to have an alternative option for medically uninsurable individuals to access coverage, but most do. A high-risk health insurance pool is the most common way to provide individuals access to coverage. In addition, in many states, high-risk pools serve as the guanrateed-issue purchasing option for individuals who wish to exercise federal group-to-individual insurance portability rights. High-risk pools are also available in many states as a purchasing option for individuals who are eligible for the 65 percent federal health insurance tax credit provided by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act of 2002.

www.nahu.org...

Texas's high risk pool was not created due to Obamacare.

reply to post by OrphanApology


Alrighty then......both the OP and myself have tried to explain how the Lt. Gov. could influence expenditures. You want to argue the point. Whatever. It's called thread derailment.

Concerning your statement that Dewhurst's letter is one without teeth or meaning, that is perhaps a fair assessment, and you are entitled to your opinion on that. It may be total political theater, but it is interesting that it was not reported on the news. Typically when a politician calls out the federal government, it does make waves and does make for an interesting political news story.

Obviously, though, the news doesn't want to report that any states are fighting tooth and nail against this idiotic travesty called Obamacare.

For a person who professes to hate politics, you certainly have a lot to say on the subject.

reply to post by alienreality

I am surprised that more states have not just outright refused any cooperation whatsoever with this broken Obama care joke..

Then you'll like what my Texas Governor said too:

"President Obama deceived the American people by promising that anyone who liked their health care plan could keep it, but millions of Americans are now discovering that simply isn't true. Now, he's coming to Texas in a desperate attempt to salvage his ill-conceived and unpopular program from a Titanic fate by preaching expansion of the same Medicaid system he himself admits is broken. In Texas, where Medicaid already consumes a quarter of the state budget, we simply need the flexibility to implement fundamental, state-specific reforms to our Medicaid program, instead of a one-size-fits-all Washington mandate, before it bankrupts our state. Mr. President, Texans aren't the reason Obamacare is crumbling; Obamacare is the reason Obamacare is crumbling."

Statement by Gov. Perry on President’s Visit to Texas

BUT

The AUDIO of Texas Governor Rick Perry is what I would have to label as ... "Priceless !!!"

If you see him ... Please don't hold back your ... "PAT ON THE BACK".

reply to post by FarleyWayne


I'm not gonna hug Perry, I might get hairspray on my face.....but I do appreciate him in this case. I mean, he IS a politician after all......so he's mostly full of feces. However, I do agree with him.

reply to post by FarleyWayne


This really ... "Grinds My Gears":

Under the ACA every individual in the country must have insurance by the end of open enrollment period, on April 1, 2014, or they will face a fine of $95 a year, or 1% of their annual income for failing to comply with the law.

ObamaCare: Another Deadline Slips

I think they left out the "whichever is greater" part.

So, they're going to try to "fine" the NON-INCOME folks $95.00.

Let's see, "$95.00" that they don't have ???

How do you deal with ... "CRAZY" ???

reply to post by FarleyWayne


Don't worry. I'm sure the plan is to make us, the taxpayers, pony up the $95.00 in the form of a subsidy to pay it for the nonworking. The plan is to eventually squeeze as many of middle class dry, and into the nonworking no income class. Totally dependent on our benevolent dictator.

I hope Texas leads the charge in condemning this debacle of forced socialist agenda. Texas is my birth State, makes me proud.

Thanks for posting this thread. (insert thumbs up thingie here)

Des