"Fishkin" for Money

Joseph Fishkin, an assistant professor in the School of Law at the University of Texas, wrote an article in the Austin American Statesmen, arguing that Governor Rick Perry should advice rather than oppose Texans supporting the significantly expanded Medicaid program that is part of Obamacare. Fishkin’s argument to support the new Medicaid program is that the federal government will pay 90 percent or more to of the cost, and since Texas has the highest rate of uninsured in the nation,  they will have the most to gain from this expansion in Medicaid. According to figures from Kaiser, Texas will receive $52.5 billion in 2014 for this program, which accounts for more than half of Texas’s budget. So Fishkin is making his case to Texas Republican’s, that they should not turn down this federal money just because Republicans oppose Obamacare and this Medicaid expansion is part of Obamacare. Fishkin wants people to think logically and not ideologically. He seems to have done the necessary research and in his commentary, he states facts that were found, like the Kaiser figures.  However, Fishkin’s only problem in his claim would be that this plan could possibly help out Texan’s but he is not thinking about how all of that federal money would affect the US as a whole. The argument he makes for this, is that Texan’s will be paying for the expanded Medicaid program in our federal taxes anyway, but if we turn down the money then our taxes will just support other states. This is a very good point, but Fishkin does not seem to have an issue with this looming problem that the US is bound to face. Since Fishkin is an assistant professor of Law, his argument is very convincing and to point, and the logic is there. However it is unclear whether or not the audience, Texas Republicans, will necessarily buy into what he is asking of them.

Fishkin: Perry should change course to accept Medicaid funding, http://www.statesman.com/opinion/fishkin-perry-should-change-course-to-accept-medicaid-2416255.html, written 7/13/2012, found 7/20/2012