This is some early talk right now and from the content of this article it looks like they are waiting on some additional reports to see if in fact it is the right decision. When you read through here and look at the comments, it appears like many like the option of looking but there are no committers on the fence yet as it would entail giving up the federal matched funds too.
The big issues here are cost and of course care and the secondary item seems to be on fire all over the US with recent changes. We also have the November issue of the potential Medicare cuts for physicians that needs an answer. It’s very hard today to make long term projections on healthcare cost as it’s a moving target for sure. Texas also talked about seceding from the union too, but they are still here. BD
Some Republican lawmakers — still reveling in Tuesday’s statewide election sweep — are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state’s estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program.
“With Obamacare mandates coming down, we have a situation where we cannot reduce benefits or change eligibility” to cut costs, said State Representative Warren Chisum, Republican of Pampa, the veteran conservative lawmaker who recently entered the race for speaker of the House. “This system is bankrupting our state,” he said. “We need to get out of it. And with the budget shortfall we’re anticipating, we may have to act this year.”
Currently, the Texas program costs $40 billion for a period of two years, with the federal government paying 60 percent of the bill. As a result of federal health care changes, Ms. Nelson said, millions of additional Texans will be eligible for Medicaid.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization, estimates Texas could save $60 billion from 2013 to 2019 by opting out of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, dropping coverage for acute care but continuing to finance long-term care services. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which has 3.6 million children, people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, will release its own study on the effect of ending the state’s participation in the federal match program at some point between now and January.
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