'G.O.P. Stands on Health Mask Records as Governors'

(Very confusing headline, since "stand," "mask" and "record" can each be either a noun or a verb.) (Tsk-tsk, NYT!) From The New York Times here

The politics of the primaries have made toxic any consideration of once-conservative concepts like health insurance mandates and marketplace exchanges, because of their association with Mr. Obama’s plan. But in a different day and environment, Mr. Romney in Massachusetts and Mr. Huntsman in Utah embraced those very devices as state solutions, to differing degrees.

Mr. Perry, by contrast, eschewed direct efforts to expand coverage in Texas and cemented its status as the state with the highest rate of people without insurance.

When Mr. Perry succeeded George W. Bush in December 2000, about 22 percent of Texans had no insurance, second only to New Mexico. After Mr. Perry’s decade in office, Texas now claims the highest uninsured rate, at 26 percent, as well as other distinctions like the lowest rate of prenatal care.

Regardless, Mr. Perry has offered few initiatives to extend coverage. Instead, under the banner of state sovereignty, he has waged a running battle against the ballooning cost and structure of Medicaid, which covers more than a third of Texas children. At various points, Mr. Perry and the Republican-controlled Legislature have cut Medicaid benefits and provider reimbursement rates and made enrollment more onerous. . . .

Mr. Perry continues to pay a political price for one decision he made to impose a health care mandate — an executive order in 2007 that made Texas the first state to require young girls to be vaccinated against cervical cancer with Gardasil. The order infuriated conservatives, and the Legislature quickly passed a bill to overturn it, which Mr. Perry allowed to take effect without his signature.

The governor, whose former chief of staff was a lobbyist for Merck, the maker of Gardasil, defended his “pro-life decision” in a debate last year. But after announcing his bid for president last month, he began describing it as a mistake. . . . 

[Emphasis added.] Perry is a real piece of work.