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Protestors Take Buses To Austin: Want Governor U-Turn on Medicaid Expansion

BJ Austin
/
KERA News

Several hundred low-income, uninsured Texans want Governor Perry to change his mind and expand Medicaid, as called-for in the federal healthcare law. They’ve traveled to Austin today from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio to deliver petitions to the Governor.

Mayra Hurtado, a single mother of three was among 100 people from Dallas to board buses this morning for the trip. She hopes the rally makes an impression on the Governor and he’ll put people over politics.

“I’m happy that he has a good life and that he has everything made, and you know, where he’s at and where he’s from,” said Hurtado. “But what about all these other people out here, the Texans and everybody who’s surviving barely on a day to day basis? What about us?

States have the option to increase Medicaid rolls or not. Governor Perry has said expanding Medicaid in Texas would add two million people to the rolls, and the added expense would eventually sink the state budget.

Former KERA reporter BJ Austin spent more than 25 years in broadcast journalism, anchoring and reporting in Atlanta, New York, New Orleans and Dallas. Along the way, she covered Atlanta City Hall, the Georgia Legislature and the corruption trials of Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.