In brief: Perry: Texas won’t expand Medicaid

DALLAS – Gov. Rick Perry said Monday that Texas won’t establish an online marketplace for patients to shop for insurance or expand Medicaid, two key elements of the federal health care overhaul.

In a letter sent to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the Republican governor and former presidential candidate said both elements “represent brazen intrusions into the sovereignty of our state.”

“I will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government,” Perry said in a statement.

Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, with about 6.2 million residents – a quarter of the state’s population – lacking health insurance.

The Supreme Court upheld most of the federal health care law last month, although it said the federal government can’t withhold states’ entire Medicaid allotment if they don’t expand Medicaid. If states choose not to set up a health care exchange, an online service for people to comparison shop for insurance, the federal government will establish one for them.

Casino mogul gives $1 million to PAC

WASHINGTON – Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson is giving $1 million to a super political action committee aimed at helping conservatives get elected in Florida.

Federal filings show the new Freedom PAC supports “strong conservative candidates” in the state, like Senate contender Connie Mack. She’s currently a Republican House member. Adelson and his wife have given more than $20 million to GOP-oriented super PACs this election cycle. Most of that cash went to a super PAC working to get former House Speaker Newt Gingrich elected president.

Stranded baby beluga whale dies

SEWARD, Alaska – A baby beluga whale that was believed to be just 2 days old when it was found stranded after a storm in Alaska’s Bristol Bay has died at a research aquarium where it received round-the-clock care by a team of marine mammal experts.

Officials at the Alaska SeaLife Center said that despite everyone’s best efforts, the whale died Monday morning.

The calf was found June 18 near South Naknek. Officials believe a storm likely separated the calf from its mother.