Texas Politics, Poverty and Medicaid
Good news, our Governor won’t seek reelection in 2015; bad news we can’t wait till then to end the Medicaid debate.
Just google Texas and Medicaid expansion for current thinking and a quick overview. Our Governor can stand on Pro Life and be morally deficient on turning down billions of federal dollars that would have paid for health care coverage for 1.5 million poor Texans. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents in the country, 1 in 4 have no health coverage. How many avoidable deaths could be avoided with this expansion?
Statewide, Texas will forfeit an estimated $100 billion in federal Medicaid funds by rejecting Medicaid expansion.
The economic advantages of participating in Medicaid expansion are profound, according to a study by the Perryman Group, a Waco-based economic and financial analysis firm. While the cost to the state general fund of making almost 1.5 million more residents eligible for Medicaid is estimated at $1.3 billion through fiscal year 2017, Texas would be eligible for an estimated $24 billion under Medicaid expansion, according to the study. The federal government would pay 100 percent of the cost of Medicaid expansion from 2014 to 2016 then ratchet its share down gradually to 90 percent by 2020, where it would level off going forward, according to the Perryman Group.
Conversely, not participating in expansion means Texas will suffer “a significant economic downside which must be weighed against potential savings in direct State outlays,” according to the report. A large uninsured population leads to higher private insurance premiums and higher taxes to cover the cost of uncompensated care, Perryman says.
Healthcare providers are frustrated at Rick Perry and state Republican lawmakers to set aside their opposition and expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. It is clear to everyone that this expansion helps subsidies insurance to make it affordable and guarantee care to the poor and near poor. The politicians refusal to spend money on the poor & vulnerable will hurt and alienate while reinforcing how little regard G.O.P has for their care.
Tom Banning, chief executive officer of the Texas Academy of Family Physicians, lobbied hard but unsuccessfully for Medicaid expansion. He’s beside himself with frustration.
“These people don’t choose to get sick. When they do, they’re going to access our health care system at the most inefficient and expensive point, which is the emergency room,” Banning says. “And it’s going to cost the taxpayers, and it’s going to cost employers a lot of money to care for them. And we’re going to be forgoing billions of dollars that the feds have set aside for the state to pay for and provide this care.”
Paula Gomez, executive director of the Brownsville Community Health Center, said her clinic treats a little more than 20,000 patients a year. Between that and Su Clinica’s Brownsville clinic, she estimates only 15 percent of the actual need is being met in the city.
“People are waiting till their illness gets to the point where they end up in the emergency room, and at that point we pay for it anyway because they still don’t have ability to pay,” she said. These are working poor. If they’re really sick they’re not going to be able to work. If you can’t work, you can’t produce. If you can’t produce, you can’t make money. If can’t make money, you can’t provide for your family. It hurts all the way around.”
Spending on healthcare creates economic stimulus throughout the region, makes for a healthy population with fewer deaths and better voters. Perry can cement his legacy with a change of heart and compassion.