TEA PARTY OF LOUISIANA OPPOSES “BED TAX” AND OBAMACARE MEDICAID EXPANSION under HCR 75
Calls On Louisiana Legislature To Kill The New Tax And Oppose Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion provided for in House Concurrent Resolution 75
For Immediate Release May 7, 2015
BATON ROUGE - The Tea Party of Louisiana (TPoL) on behalf of all hardworking tax paying citizens of Louisiana and our 13,733 activist members across Louisiana calls on all legislators to oppose House Concurrent Resolution 75, which provides for the “stealth” Obamacare Medicaid expansion together with a “bed tax.”
HCR 75 is little more than a thinly veiled attempt to coax Louisiana into Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. As such, TPoL will consider a vote for HCR 75 a vote in favor of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, as well as a vote for higher fees and additional spending at a crucial Louisiana Budgetary shortfall crisis.
Unfortunately, HCR 75 passed out of Committee virtually unopposed and is scheduled for the House floor possibly next Monday. The Committee and “Leadership” has not learned from our previous rejection of HB 532, the “Bed Tax” and Obamacare Medicaid expansion, in the 2013 session; and moreover the failures of this scheme in other states since then. They continue to push to make this ill-advised policy state law in Louisiana. In Ohio, for example, a similar plan put in place by Governor John Kasich is already projected to be more than $1 billion over-budget in this fiscal year alone – and will more likely become more unsustainable in the future when the Medicaid match rate inevitability fails, and the program’s added costs are shifted to state taxpayers. Louisiana can’t afford such irresponsibility – at the state or federal level !!!
TPoL wants all to clearly understand, this is a scheme to quietly usher Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion into Louisiana. HCR 75 will lay the groundwork for Medicaid Expansion in the coming months without further legislative action. There will be no chance for the Governor to Veto this irresponsible act by the Legislature! It’s totally on them!
A pure ploy to coax Louisiana into Medicaid Expansion - a policy that will further crush our budget in years to come. Bed taxes are a shady, underhanded way of scamming federal taxpayers supposedly at little or no cost to Louisiana taxpayers - except that Louisiana taxpayers are also federal taxpayers. Essentially, this proposal attempts to profit off of expanding Obamacare, at the expense of federal taxpayers. Unfortunately, there are those, even in the LA Legislature, who believe that Federal dollars are "Free" dollars. There are no free dollars, anywhere, as far as you can see. Someone pays and pays dearly.
If this Medicaid expansion succeeds in Louisiana, 45% of the population will be on it. Add to that the number of those enrolled in Medicare, and you end up with 30% of the citizens of the state paying for everyone else including illegals getting free healthcare at your expense.
Medicaid expansion bills have failed in previous two sessions. This is an underhanded scam that will cost billions.
The Tea Party of Louisiana (TPoL) strongly opposes HCR 75. TPoL will score a vote in favor of this “bed tax” as a vote in favor of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, and hold legislators accountable accordingly.
Bob Reid, spokesman
Board of Directors Member
TEA Party of Louisiana, LLC
