Obama To Call on Gov. Perry To Agree To Medicaid Expansion

Texas governor not one of the president's biggest fans

President Barack Obama plans to call on Texas Gov. Rick Perry – one of the most prominent Obamacare foes in the country - to follow the lead of a handful of other Republican governors and agree to the expansion of Medicaid in the state as he visits Dallas on Wednesday.

"This isn't a political issue. This is about making sure people where they live have access to good quality, affordable health care," White House deputy senior adviser for communications and strategy David Simas said Tuesday as he previewed the president's trip.

Obama will ask Perry and the Republican majority in the Texas Legislature to join with fellow Republicans in Arizona, Ohio and Michigan to expand Medicaid. Texas leaders, Simas said, should "put politics aside and not deny people health care out of ideology or politics."