Perry defends Texas health coverage

Rick Perry on Sunday shot back at critics who note Texas had the highest rate of uninsured residents among the states when he was governor.

Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Perry, who is again seeking the GOP presidential nomination, was pressed by host Chris Wallace on the issue as Perry has struck an increasingly populist economic tone on the stump.


“Is that looking out for the little guy, when 21 percent of Texans didn’t have health insurance?” Wallace asked.

“That’s not how we keep score,” Perry said, referring to the rate. “I think it’s a fallacy to say access to health care is about insurance.”

“It’s not about whether you force somebody to buy insurance,” he continued. “It’s whether Texans have access to good health care.”

Perry has lingered near the bottom of polls in the nation’s first presidential caucus state, Iowa, despite spending more time there than almost any other candidate in recent months. And he came in fifth in a national poll by The Wall Street Journal and NBC News released on Sunday, with 53 percent of Republican primary voters saying they could support him.