Gov. Bobby Jindal, continued to endear himself to conservatives across the country yesterday when he told The Huffington Post he had not changed his mind about not implementing Obamacare in Louisiana.
“We are not implementing the exchange,” Jindal told HuffPo.
Today, Jindal released a letter from himself to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius explaining his decision. You can read the full letter here. Highlights include:
Since the PPACA was signed into law, the State of Louisiana has repeatedly stated that the law has severe legal problems, is bad policy, and is unworkable. … While the Supreme Court ruled on the Constitutionality of some parts of the PPACA, it was not an endorsement of its policy merits. … The PPACA remains a flawed piece of legislation that fails to fix the fundamental existing problems in the United States health care system, particularly the unsustainable rising costs faced by American families and small businesses. Instead, we are faced with a more tightly controlled federal-run health insurance market that will increase costs, undermine the private health care marketplace, and weaken private sector job creation.
The Supreme Court’s decision also fails to resolve the fact that the PPACA is simply an unworkable piece of legislation. With incomplete regulations and unrealistic deadlines, States and the Federal government will struggle to have a health insurance Exchange ready for open enrollment on October 1, 2013 that is not beset with major complications for the insurance market and the respective residents of the States. The full extent of damage the PPACA causes to small businesses, the nation’s economy, and the American health care system will only be revealed with time. The State of Louisiana has no interest in being a party to this failure by implementing a state based exchange.
