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Rep. Flynn to host meeting on healthcare

By Scott Harvey

Greenville – State Representative for District 2 Dan Flynn has scheduled a Town Hall Meeting next month to discuss the federal takeover of healthcare and Texas' plans to oppose the socialization of medicine.

Flynn will appear with Representative Wayne Christian (R-Center) and key staff of the Texas Conservative Coalition.

The Representative, along with several other members of the Texas House, announced on Monday their intentions to file a lawsuit to reject this legislation, due in part to what they call extreme fiscal recklessness this bill imposes on Texas' taxpayers.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the federal health care overhaul legislation will cost $940 billion over the next decade.

The Town Hall Meeting will begin at 5:30 PM on April 1, and take place at the Landmark on Lee Street in Greenville.

From the office of Rep. Dan Flynn:

"Congress' actions to mandate how Texans receive, pay for, and control their healthcare are the subject of great confusion and controversy," stated Flynn. "I welcome any and all to come to this meeting to voice their opinions regarding the federal healthcare legislation and to ask any questions about what Texas' plans and options are."

The federal healthcare bill, signed by President Obama early this week, is the subject of a massive lawsuit filed by Texas' Attorney General Greg Abbott along with several other states. According to General Abbott, under the new law, for the first time in the nation's history, the federal government is attempting to force individual Americans to enter into contracts and purchase services from private companies-in this case, insurance companies-or face a penalty. The state attorneys general are challenging this so-called individual mandate requirement, explaining that such an imposition on the American people exceeds Congress' authority and violates Americans' constitutional rights. Additionally, the states are challenging provisions of the new law that will impose dramatic Medicaid spending increases on the states-including more than $24 billion in mandatory spending increases in the State of Texas.

It is estimated that the Medicaid expansions in ObamaCare will force Texas to increase spending on Medicaid, although previous expansions of Medicaid have not reduced the uninsured rate. In 1988 the uninsured rate in Texas was 24.5 percent; in 2008, it was 24.1 percent even though spending on health and human services increased from $4.1 billion to $29.7 billion in the same period.

Rep. Flynn encourages all who are concerned about this grave historical moment to attend the Town Hall Meeting on April 1, at 5:30 PM, at 2920 Lee Street in Greenville.