Obamacare Will Bankrupt States: Texas Gov. Perry
Special to CNBC.com
If the U.S. Supreme Court finds the Obama health insurance law constitutional "it's going to basically bankrupt the states," Texas Gov. Rick Perry told CNBC Tuesday.
The former Republican presidential candidate said his state is considering its options if the constitutionality is upheld. Perry claimed the Obama administration "misrepresented the cost of this bill" for the program when President Barack Obama said Texas would pay $27 billion over the next 10 years.
"Those numbers are going to escalate," Perry predicted. "The cost of the bill to the states is going to be absolutely stunning."
In the same interview, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said the cost of Medicaid is growing larger than the state's revenue.
"States are going to say, 'Would we be better off to just come up with our own [Medicaid] program and have no money from the federal government?'" the Republican Scott said. "I think all the states would like to have just a block grant. Give us the money and we’ll take care of our citizens. If I don’t do the right thing or Governor Perry doesn’t, we won’t be re-elected."
Scott said Florida has gone from eighth to third in terms of job creation as ranked by CEO magazine. Texas has been first for seven years.
Every company Florida tries to draw "they're thinking about Texas," Scott said. "They work hard. It's taxes, regulation and attitude. They go after [companies] and so do I."
