“Austin senator blisters Perry”
– Austin American Statesman (A1), 9-20-13
2. Category: Healthcare / Economy
3. Level: State
4.
A potential policy that is being
considered to help a problem/issue that individuals/families face
5. This article is important to both individuals
and families because of every person’s availability to healthcare. As Senator
Watson puts it, if Perry’s orders take effect, not as many consumers will be
ensured with healthcare.
6.
In
my last blog post, I had mentioned that Governor Rick Perry has ordered that healthcare
navigators must have more strict requirements in order to provide healthcare
services to consumers. Well, not even a day later, Senator Kirk Watson shot
down Perry’s suggestion. I was previously on the fence on whether or not I agreed
with our governor; however, after reading this article my opinion has further
been solidified. Sen. Watson is right about a few things: Rick Perry seems to
think that the Affordable Care Act allows states to create additional rules
beyond the federal law. In order for our healthcare plan to work though, it
needs to be the same nationwide. I fear that if it is harder for navigators to
complete the training required, it will be harder for consumers to get the healthcare
plan they need. In the end, fewer people who really need the healthcare will
not be able to have access to it.
This article gives a little
more details on what exactly was in the letter from Gov. Perry to Rathgeber. He
called for background checks, an additional 40 hours of training, and requiring
the navigators to be U.S. citizens. Additionally, he wants the insurance
companies to charge a fee to cover the costs associated with the navigator
program (which is paid for through federal grants). Again, I agree that the
navigators need to be highly qualified in order to protect the consumer’s
privacy; however, making it near impossible to become “highly qualified” will
only lead to less consumers actually obtaining healthcare.
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