Rick Perry's disasterous record on healthcare

[Chris]

When Texas went to court last year to block President Obama's healthcare overhaul, Gov. Rick Perry pledged to do everything in his power to "protect our families, taxpayers and medical providers." Texas, he said, could manage its own healthcare.

But in the 11 years the Republican presidential hopeful has been in office, working Texans increasingly have been priced out of private healthcare while the state's safety net has withered, leaving millions of state residents without medical care.

"Texas just hasn't proven it can run a health system," said Dr. C. Bruce Malone III, an orthopedic surgeon and president of the historically conservative Texas Medical Assn.

More than a quarter of Texans lack health insurance, the highest rate in the nation, placing a crushing burden on hospitals and doctors who treat patients unable to pay.

Those costs are passed to the insured. Insurance premiums have risen more quickly in Texas than they have nationally over the last seven years. And when compared with incomes, insurance in Texas is less affordable than in every state but Mississippi, according to the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund.

That has taken a toll, as nearly a third of the state's children did not receive an annual physical and a teeth cleaning in 2007, placing Texas 40th in a state ranking by the fund. Over the last decade, infant mortality rates have risen in Texas while declining nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Seniors, despite guaranteed Medicare coverage, also are suffering, as nearly 1 in 5 ends up back in the hospital within a month of being released, one of the highest readmission rates in the country and a leading indicator of systemwide problems.

Texas healthcare system withering under Gov. Rick Perry - latimes.com

 

[Greenbeard]

Don't worry, he's got a plan:

Rick Perry believes the best way for the federal government to improve healthcare is to stimulate job creation so more Americans are covered by employer-sponsored health plans.

It's been working wonders in Texas over the past decade:

Texas workers looking for health insurance through their employers have to look a little harder these days, according to a report released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the State Health Access Data Assistance Center. State Level Trends in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance shows that employer-sponsored coverage fell by 8 percent nationally between 1999 and 2009, while coverage among Texas employers dropped by 10.5 percent, the eighth highest drop among all states. The percentage of Texas employees insured through work dropped from 62.0 percent to 51.5 percent during the study period, while the national average fell from 69.4 percent to 61.4 percent.

 

[Quantum Windbag]

When Texas went to court last year to block President Obama's healthcare overhaul, Gov. Rick Perry pledged to do everything in his power to "protect our families, taxpayers and medical providers." Texas, he said, could manage its own healthcare.

But in the 11 years the Republican presidential hopeful has been in office, working Texans increasingly have been priced out of private healthcare while the state's safety net has withered, leaving millions of state residents without medical care.

"Texas just hasn't proven it can run a health system," said Dr. C. Bruce Malone III, an orthopedic surgeon and president of the historically conservative Texas Medical Assn.

More than a quarter of Texans lack health insurance, the highest rate in the nation, placing a crushing burden on hospitals and doctors who treat patients unable to pay.

Those costs are passed to the insured. Insurance premiums have risen more quickly in Texas than they have nationally over the last seven years. And when compared with incomes, insurance in Texas is less affordable than in every state but Mississippi, according to the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund.

That has taken a toll, as nearly a third of the state's children did not receive an annual physical and a teeth cleaning in 2007, placing Texas 40th in a state ranking by the fund. Over the last decade, infant mortality rates have risen in Texas while declining nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Seniors, despite guaranteed Medicare coverage, also are suffering, as nearly 1 in 5 ends up back in the hospital within a month of being released, one of the highest readmission rates in the country and a leading indicator of systemwide problems.

Texas healthcare system withering under Gov. Rick Perry - latimes.com

More evidence that the government should stay out of the health care market.

 

[freedombecki]

When Texas went to court last year to block President Obama's healthcare overhaul, Gov. Rick Perry pledged to do everything in his power to "protect our families, taxpayers and medical providers." Texas, he said, could manage its own healthcare.

But in the 11 years the Republican presidential hopeful has been in office, working Texans increasingly have been priced out of private healthcare while the state's safety net has withered, leaving millions of state residents without medical care.

"Texas just hasn't proven it can run a health system," said Dr. C. Bruce Malone III, an orthopedic surgeon and president of the historically conservative Texas Medical Assn.

More than a quarter of Texans lack health insurance, the highest rate in the nation, placing a crushing burden on hospitals and doctors who treat patients unable to pay.

Those costs are passed to the insured. Insurance premiums have risen more quickly in Texas than they have nationally over the last seven years. And when compared with incomes, insurance in Texas is less affordable than in every state but Mississippi, according to the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund.

That has taken a toll, as nearly a third of the state's children did not receive an annual physical and a teeth cleaning in 2007, placing Texas 40th in a state ranking by the fund. Over the last decade, infant mortality rates have risen in Texas while declining nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Seniors, despite guaranteed Medicare coverage, also are suffering, as nearly 1 in 5 ends up back in the hospital within a month of being released, one of the highest readmission rates in the country and a leading indicator of systemwide problems.

Texas healthcare system withering under Gov. Rick Perry - latimes.com

More evidence that the government should stay out of the health care market.

Oh, fer the love of Pete. You think a California rag noted for its tendency to tell hard left megafibbies is going to say anything good about health care in Texas? You read that paper, and green ink comes off in your hand--they're just dripping with jealousy over Texas' MD Anderson Hospital leading the nation in cancer healing.

The trouble Lala Times has with healing in Texas is because privatization is so successful they just have hissy-fits on the left coast about it.

 

[auditor0007]

When Texas went to court last year to block President Obama's healthcare overhaul, Gov. Rick Perry pledged to do everything in his power to "protect our families, taxpayers and medical providers." Texas, he said, could manage its own healthcare.

But in the 11 years the Republican presidential hopeful has been in office, working Texans increasingly have been priced out of private healthcare while the state's safety net has withered, leaving millions of state residents without medical care.

"Texas just hasn't proven it can run a health system," said Dr. C. Bruce Malone III, an orthopedic surgeon and president of the historically conservative Texas Medical Assn.

More than a quarter of Texans lack health insurance, the highest rate in the nation, placing a crushing burden on hospitals and doctors who treat patients unable to pay.

Those costs are passed to the insured. Insurance premiums have risen more quickly in Texas than they have nationally over the last seven years. And when compared with incomes, insurance in Texas is less affordable than in every state but Mississippi, according to the nonprofit Commonwealth Fund.

That has taken a toll, as nearly a third of the state's children did not receive an annual physical and a teeth cleaning in 2007, placing Texas 40th in a state ranking by the fund. Over the last decade, infant mortality rates have risen in Texas while declining nationwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Seniors, despite guaranteed Medicare coverage, also are suffering, as nearly 1 in 5 ends up back in the hospital within a month of being released, one of the highest readmission rates in the country and a leading indicator of systemwide problems.

Texas healthcare system withering under Gov. Rick Perry - latimes.com

More evidence that the government should stay out of the health care market.

Oh, fer the love of Pete. You think a California rag noted for its tendency to tell hard left megafibbies is going to say anything good about health care in Texas? You read that paper, and green ink comes off in your hand--they're just dripping with jealousy over Texas' MD Anderson Hospital leading the nation in cancer healing.

The trouble Lala Times has with healing in Texas is because privatization is so successful they just have hissy-fits on the left coast about it.

I can understand defending the private health insurance industry, if that is your thing. But denying the facts that Texas is one fucked up state when it comes to healthcare only shows your ignorance. Damn, over 25% of the state has no health coverage at all. And that doesn't bother you?

 

[Quantum Windbag]

More evidence that the government should stay out of the health care market.

Oh, fer the love of Pete. You think a California rag noted for its tendency to tell hard left megafibbies is going to say anything good about health care in Texas? You read that paper, and green ink comes off in your hand--they're just dripping with jealousy over Texas' MD Anderson Hospital leading the nation in cancer healing.

The trouble Lala Times has with healing in Texas is because privatization is so successful they just have hissy-fits on the left coast about it.

I can understand defending the private health insurance industry, if that is your thing. But denying the facts that Texas is one fucked up state when it comes to healthcare only shows your ignorance. Damn, over 25% of the state has no health coverage at all. And that doesn't bother you?

I grew up in one of the poorest counties in Texas, and I can tell you categorically that no one in that county had any trouble getting any health care services they needed. Ambulances from Mexico come across the bridge and drop people in emergency rooms, then pick them up and take them back to Juarez.

Only complete idiots think that a lack of insurance kills anyone in this country, but thanks for playing.

 

[Greenbeard]

But denying the facts that Texas is one fucked up state when it comes to healthcare only shows your ignorance.

Huzzah for Number 46!