BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration sent formal notification Wednesday to federal officials that Louisiana won't create its own health insurance market as provided by the national health care overhaul.
Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein mailed a seven-page letter telling the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that Louisiana will leave it to the federal government to run the state's health insurance exchange.
The letter also outlined the Jindal administration's continuing opposition to the entire law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year.
"The State of Louisiana has repeatedly stated that the law has severe legal problems, is bad policy and is unworkable. Those beliefs remain unchanged," Greenstein wrote to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The exchanges, scheduled to launch in January 2014, will allow people and small businesses to shop for private coverage from a range of competing insurers. They are supposed to be ready to begin enrolling people in October 2013.
Jindal, a Republican who is considered a possible White House contender, has sought repeal of President Barack Obama's signature health care law, calling it an inappropriate expansion of the federal government and a burdensome expense for the state and businesses.
In his letter, Greenstein revisited those complaints, laying out pages of point-by-point criticism. He called the health care law unjust taxation, said it will undermine the private health care marketplace and claimed it will weaken job creation at private businesses.
"The full extent of damage the (health care law) causes to small businesses, the nation's economy and the American health care system will only be revealed with time," Greenstein wrote. "The State of Louisiana has no interest in being a party to this failure by implementing a state based exchange."
He said the health insurance exchanges have unrealistic deadlines and unclear regulations.
The exchanges are supposed to be set up with federal money and then sustained through taxes and fees on the insurance products.
State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, the head of the Louisiana Democratic Party, tried unsuccessfully to get the state to run its own exchange. She said it doesn't make sense for the state to opt out of creating its own system that fits its local markets, instead of using a one-size-fits-all model.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, a Republican who supports the concept of an exchange though not the Obama health law, echoed similar concerns Wednesday about using an exchange model not created specifically with Louisiana in mind.
"When the feds build the exchange, they will build it according to their political agenda and that gives me concern as a person who would not have voted for what I consider to be a program headed in the direction of national health care," Donelon said.
But he noted the decision of whether Louisiana would run its own health insurance exchange was not his, but Jindal's choice.
Louisiana, which was one of 26 states that unsuccessfully sued to throw out the health revamp, earlier had decided to let federal officials run the high-risk pools for people who have pre-existing medical conditions and can't afford the costs of private insurance plans.
Before the presidential election, Jindal also said he won't let Louisiana participate in another part of the Obama health care law, refusing to expand the state's Medicaid coverage to give more people health insurance.
Since Obama's re-election victory, the governor hasn't responded to questions about whether he'll change his stance now that efforts to repeal the national health care overhaul are expected to go nowhere.
MAY 20 This post by blogger CB Forgotston draws parallels between Gov. Bobby Jindal and two individuals he probably doesn't want to be aligned with: President Obama and former governor Edwin Edwards. CB says Jindal's trying to jack up the debt ceiling (an Obama play, according to CB) and buy votes from GOP leges who normally wouldn't go for that (an Edwards play, CB says).
MAY 20 Here's a post in the Baptist Message from an alumnus of Louisiana College. The author, Larry Burgess, calls on the leadership of the private school to take care of some pressing problems. Physical plant issues are critical and unaddressed, some faculty make so little they need government health care, and there is an atmosphere that does not encourage honest discussion, he writes. It's time to get things back in order, he says.
MAY 20 This post in Gambit tells of a benefit concert scheduled to raise money for the 19 people shot during a Mother's Day second line on Frenchmen Street in NOLA. Among them was Gambit blogger Deb Cotton, who spoke frequently about violence in the city and reported on the city's second line culture. Gambit's foundation, along with other NOLA non-profits, also is selling t-shirts to raise money for the victims.
MAY 20 Blogger Robert Mann is critical of the personal interest some legislators take in their work here, sharing the comments one NOLA solon made in explaining his decision to vote against a bill that would require people to stop discriminating against female workers. His wife might lose some salary, so he was going to have to vote against the equal pay bill, Conrad Appel said. Appel and everyone who heard him should have been ashamed, but they weren't, and that's what is wrong in that building, Mann argues.
MAY 20 American Press columnist Jim Beam writes about the budget again here, urging kudos for the House and its efforts to try to fix the budget as opposed to passing on a flawed and messy rubber-stamped document as it usually does. The Senate already is poo-pooing the effort, but instead Senators should be trying to find a way to improve it as well, Beam argues. He also has some predictions in here from LABI and CABL.
MAY 20 Here's a link to the photo gallery from Tulane's graduation this past weekend. Dr. John and Allen Toussaint played together and received honorary degrees. The Dalai Lama was so entranced by their performance he got up from his seat and walked across the stage to stand next to them. He even participated in a second line with his own personal, saffron-colored umbrella. To the graduates, he urged them to think about creating a peaceful, hopeful life and society.
MAY 20 This Picayune story questions the rhetoric of NOLA officials who say the city, aside from having a "murder problem," is safe. The talking points generally are that the criminals are killing each other, but everything else is OK. The police chief there says that even Lafayette is more dangerous than NOLA. But crime experts interviewed here say that NOLA's numbers indicate one of two things: either people are so used to violence they don't report it, or somebody's "fudging the numbers."
MAY 20 The Advocate's Mark Ballard writes about some of the background maneuvering that took place during the development of budget alternatives in the Legislature. From Rep. Joel Robideaux being called a "tax and spend liberal" to robo-call influence, Ballard lets us in on some of the work that happens behind the scenes but usually doesn't make it into the Advocate's daily coverage of the session.
Most Read
in case you missed it
Subscribe to this comment's feed