| By now, we're all aware that the state is under the gun when it comes to its health care exchange. It can either do one of its own like a big boy state, or it can let the federal government impose one on it. We've actually had months and months to deal with this, and don't need to be in a huge rush to get it done, but back in the summer a guy running for governor -- who also happens to currently be the attorney general -- said that we ought to wait for a President Romney to repeal it. And, members of the House thought that was a good idea, so they sat on the thing. We know how this has turned out. But work on a plan continues, and the issue isn't over, said Rep. Gail Haines, R-Lake Angelus. "I'm very pleased that we are continuing to have an ongoing discussion," said Haines, the chair of the House Health Policy Committee. "It has been very difficult. I don't think it's anybody's fault in Michigan. It's been very difficult to get answers out of Washington."
Cue Jack Lessenberry from the summer. To quote him exactly,“Romney said he would repeal Obamacare and with that would go the health exchange and these mandates, and so I think it would be wiser for policy leaders in this state to wait until November.” He seems to have forgotten that Congress, not the President, would have to change the law. But in any event, he was soon joined by Gail Haines, a Republican state representative who chairs the Health Policy Committee. While she has no legal background, she asserted that the Supreme Court decision was “based on semantics” and said she wasn’t in any hurry to recognize “this Obamacare tax.” Which apparently means a refusal to move forward on the health exchange.
But, of course, in the Party of Personal Responsibility, it's always someone else's fault. |
