If Texas can organize to expand Medicaid, what about your State? Information Bulletin # 372 (2/2013) Like many Governors, Texas’ Rick Perry has not committed to expand Medicaid for low-income people whose incomes are under 138% of the federal poverty level. However, Texas advocates have been doing their homework and are organizing the Trade Associations to explain to their Governor and elected officials why it’s essential that Texas agrees to Medicaid expansion. What follows is an excerpt from a newspaper article that explains what’s happening in Texas. These same arguments in this article are applicable in every State that is still sitting on the fence. You have to get to your Trade Associations and form a coalition. Trade Associations Lend Support for Medicaid Expansion by Becca Aaronson, February 5, 2013, in The Texas Tribune. “Despite the resistance of Gov. Rick Perry and many other Republicans to expanding Medicaid in Texas under the Affordable Care Act, some momentum seems to be building from outside of the Capitol in support of the expansion. “Texas’ two largest health care trade associations, the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Hospital Association, have announced support for extending Medicaid coverage to low-income adults. But both organizations also say that in order for the plan to work in Texas, lawmakers here also must implement reforms that will contain costs and bring more doctors into the Medicaid program to provide care for the additional patients. “ ‘The most viable path is to try to work with [the federal government] to create a reformed program that does meet the needs of Texas better,’ said John Hawkins, senior vice president of government relations at the Texas Hospital Association. He said the plan to expand must be bipartisan. Democrats must be flexible in considering “personal responsibility” reforms, such as requiring some new patients under the expansion to pay co-pays. And Republicans, he said, must “play ball” because the current system is fiscally inefficient. “We’re still providing this care at the local government level, but we’re doing it in a fragmented way that actually costs more and has worse outcomes,” Hawkins said. For an additional investment of $15 billion over 10 years, Texas could draw down $100 billion in federal funding to insure two million more Texans through the state’s Medicaid program, according to a report by Billy Hamilton, a nonpartisan consultant who was previously the state’s chief revenue estimator. [We can provide a 10 year comparison for your State. Just email me below and tell me what State.] The Texas Medical Association, which represents physicians across the state, announced on Saturday that it would support the Medicaid expansion if lawmakers can devise a way to give Texas “the flexibility to change the plan as our needs and circumstances change.” “You have the two major entities that represent the delivery of health care in Texas saying this is something that we definitely need to look at,” said Dr. Carlos Cardenas, vice president of the TMA board of trustees, adding the organization recognizes “there are issues within the present Medicaid program and that the Legislature is in a position to come up with some reforms to shore up the system.” *** Perry, who has the power to veto an expansion plan approved by the Legislature, also reiterated in his state of the state address in January that Texas would not expand Medicaid. “Gov. Perry continues to believe that Medicaid is an unsustainable, broken program that needs to be reformed, and he does not support expanding it under Obamacare,” spokesman Josh Haven said in an email. *** “The more people and organizations that come on board, the more likely there is to be a strings-attached proposition for the Medicaid expansion,” said state Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston. As a proponent of expanding Medicaid coverage, Coleman said he would accept some reforms offered by Republicans, such as co-pays for expansion enrollees. “It’s hard to turn down $100 billion, so the question is what can be agreed upon to accept the $100 billion. And we have not gotten there yet.” To work around Perry’s veto power, state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, has proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow Texas voters to decide whether to expand Medicaid. “There is a lot of political posturing going on, but the bottom line is that it makes no sense to reject additional federal health aid,” Ellis said in an email. “I believe we do millions of Texans a disservice — at a real financial and human cost — if we dither and delay implementing this common sense reform.” Whether Medicaid expansion happens in your State is up to you. Sure, it is not easy, but its doable and its critically important. Steve Gold, The Disability Odyssey continues Back issues of other Information Bulletins are available online at http://www.stevegoldada.com with a searchable Archive at this site divided into different subjects. Information Bulletins will also be posted on my blog located at http://stevegoldada.blogspot.com/ To contact Steve Gold directly, write to stevegoldada1@gmail.com or call 215-627-7100. Ext 227.