A mature grown-up, upon losing, shouldn't just take his ball & go home: The Ox has lost it -- Oxendine says no to ‘high-risk' insurance pool for Ga.

UPDATED BELOW:

From the ajc:

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine said Monday that his office will not participate in a major first step of the new federal health care law, the creation of state pools that help sick people pay for health insurance.

Many sick people cannot afford the costs of such "high-risk" plans, and the new law provides some $5 billion in federal money to help people across the country pay for the insurance premiums.

The program is slated to be fully funded by the federal government, with no state costs.

The "high-risk" pools are considered a stopgap measure to help people until the federal government greatly expands the eligibility for Medicaid in 2014. People would have to have been uninsured for six months to apply for the money.
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From The New York Times in an article entitled "Georgia Insurance Commissioner Balks at Request on New Health Law":

His decision will not affect the cost of insurance for any patients, but it means that the federal government, not the state, will oversee the distribution of certain federal health care funds in Georgia.

Mr. Oxendine said his opposition to the pool program was legal and financial, not politically motivated. But some political experts noted that any stance against the federal health care law could help him in the crowded Republican primary race for governor in July.

“I suspect the decision was heavily influenced by politics,” said Charles Bullock, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia. “The electorate here is hostile to Barack Obama and health care reform.”