Texas Governor Rick Perry officially notified the federal government on November 15, 2012 that the state will not set up an exchange for its citizens to purchase health insurance.

As part of the Affordable Care Act, all states were required to notify the Department of Health and Human Services by December 14, 2012 whether or not they would create their own state-run exchange or opt out. By not creating their own exchange, states would instead be required to partner with the federal government or allow Washington to manage the exchange all together. The exchanges are currently required to be available for January 1, 2014.

Governor Perry’s letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius read in part:

“It would not be fiscally responsible to put hard-working Texas on the financial hook for an unknown amount of money to operate a system under rules that have not even been written.”