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Jan Brewer on Health Care |
DuVal: I do. And for me, this is deja vu all over again. This is a repeat of the debate I was a principle player in when we first created AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or the state's version of Medicaid). In that case, it was a Democratic governor, but the point is, there were pockets of resistance among the conservative ideologues who resisted what was, to most centrist, thoughtful people, a compelling economic development case, to say nothing of a compelling moral case. And I think that in the end, the overwhelming economic case and moral case for moving forward on this will carry the day for the governor.
On top of that, Washington's alleged solution will cost Arizona another half billion dollars every year. Only in Washington can they look upon massive federal entitlement programs bleeding red ink--and propose an even bigger new entitlement program.
The President and the Congress tell us they are going to help by reducing costs. In reality, what they are doing is eliminating freedom for our citizens, dictating the policies they must buy for their families, and forcing our employers and the state to pick up the tab.
We don't need that kind of help. At last count, 14 Attorneys General, Republican and Democrat are investigating this legislation for violating the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Christian Coalition voter guide [is] one of the most powerful tools Christians have ever had to impact our society during elections. This simple tool has helped educate tens of millions of citizens across this nation as to where candidates for public office stand on key faith and family issues.
The CC survey summarizes candidate stances on the following topic: "Federal government run health care system"
As Governors, we are writing to you regarding the excessive constraints placed on us by healthcare-related federal mandates. One of our biggest concerns continues to be the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which prevent states from managing their Medicaid programs for their unique Medicaid populations. We ask for your immediate action to remove these MOE requirements so that states are once again granted the flexibility to control their program costs and make necessary budget decisions.
Every Governor, Republican and Democrat, will face unprecedented budget challenges in the coming months. Efforts to regulate state operations impose greater uncertainty on our budgets for oncoming years and create a perfect storm when coupled with the current state of the economy.
Health and education are the primary cost drivers for most state budgets. Medicaid enrollment is up. Revenues are down. States are unable to afford the current Medicaid program, yet our hands are tied by the MOE requirements. The effect of the federal requirements is unconscionable; the federal requirements force Governors to cut other critical state programs, such as education, in order to fund a "one-size-fits-all" approach to Medicaid. Again, we ask you to lift the MOE requirements so that states may make difficult budget decisions in ways that reflect the needs of their residents.
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