Negotiations with the federal government to are at a standstill, according to the head of the state鈥檚 health agency, because he鈥檚 waiting on the Legislature to give him direction.
鈥淚f I were to go up and say, 鈥極h what if we try this or try that,鈥� only to come back and find that that very day the Legislature had passed legislation saying, 鈥榊ou may not talk about that,鈥欌�� Commissioner Kyle Janek said at a event held by our political reporting partner the Texas Tribune, 鈥渋t would be a waste of my time to start negotiating pieces.鈥�
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year allowed states to opt not to expand Medicaid -- health insurance for the poor and disabled -- under President Obama鈥檚 signature health care law. Gov. Rick Perry says he doesn鈥檛 want to further expand what he calls a "broken" system.
A bill advancing in the Legislature would request Medicaid expansion dollars as a block grant from the feds. That money would be for helping subsidize private insurance exchanges for low-income Texans who don鈥檛 qualify for Medicaid.
