Rick Perry is doing a huge
disservice to Texans by refusing to accept Medicaid expansion offered by the
Affordable Care Act. Texas should have implemented Medicaid expansion at the
very beginning considering that we have one of the largest overall populations
and we have the largest uninsured
population of any state. The economic
and social benefits we would see with Medicaid expansion are incredible
considering the need and current situation in Texas.
Let’s take a high-level
overview of the current healthcare costs in Texas…
We may not be implementing
Medicaid expansion but that doesn’t mean our money isn’t being used to fund it.
Taxes paid to the federal government, including income, corporate, and estate
taxes, will ultimately be used to fund other states implementing Medicaid
expansion. In fact, Texas will end up losing $9.2 billions by not expanding
Medicaid. Conclusion: we are paying for
other states to implement Medicaid expansion.
Being uninsured doesn’t mean people
don’t need healthcare. So, what do these people do when they do need healthcare
services? Often times they utilize emergency services and are treated in
hospitals. Sometimes these are the only options they have because it is against
federal law for hospitals who receive Medicare payments to refuse treatment to
any person. Uncompensated care is care provided to uninsured and underinsured
patients at no cost. In 2010, uncompensated care provided by Texas hospitals was
more than $5 billion. So, who covered these costs? Local taxpayers do. Conclusion:
Texans are already paying for uncompensated care provided to uninsured people.
In 2012, 24% of Texas
population were uninsured, a total of 6,252,600 individuals. Medicaid expansion
would allow more than 1 million Texans to receive coverage.
By accepting Medicaid
expansion, the federal government will pay for 100% of program costs for the
next three years. After the first three years, the state would then contribute
10% with the federal government contributing the rest. It has been estimated
that Texas would have to spend $15 billion over the next decade to roll out the
program, but we would be drawing down $100 billion in federal funds. The state
would see approximately 9 to 1 return on investment.
So…
- We have the opportunity to provide health insurance to over 1 million Texans who are currently costing taxpayers through uncompensated hospital care and other emergency service costs.
- We have the opportunity to save millions of dollars with a 9 to 1 return on investment.
If a program has the
potential to improve the health of Texans as well as provide economic benefit
to the state and local governments (as well as hospitals)… what would be the
opposition? The opposition can only be explained by politics and downright
stubbornness. Medicaid expansion is a result of the Democratic presidency of
President Obama. It is more important to Rick Perry to oppose an Obama-created opportunity
than to improve the health of Texans.
Sources:
- http://www.tha.org/HealthCareProviders/Advocacy/Hospital%20Facts.pdf
- http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20131204-study-refusal-to-expand-medicaid-is-costing-texas-billions.ece
- http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/14483/refusing-to-expand-medicaid-will-cost-texas-9-billion
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