TAB Calls for Expansion of Medicaid Managed Care to All Texas Counties
Austin – The Texas Association of Business today called for immediate action to expand Medicaid Managed Care (MMC) to save Texas taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year. Currently, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) is prohibited from providing three Texas counties with an MMC program, a prohibition that drives up the aggregate health care costs of all Texans.
What the state has today is a system of increasing inequities in the cost and in the quality of health care, all while wasting taxpayer money. The HHSC has calculated that extending MMC to the South Texas region (Cameron, Hidalgo, and Maverick counties) would result in considerable savings, totaling close to $150 million in the years ahead.
TAB calls for three action items to end the inequity taking place within Texas:
A) An immediate review by the HHSC to examine statutes already on the books to expand MMC to the three South Texas counties
B) Action by the Governor to add the expansion of MMC as an emergency item during the 2011 Legislative Session
C) The Legislature must repeal the rider exempting Cameron, Hidalgo and Maverick counties from inclusion in MMC
“Texas is allowing three Texas counties to drain tens of millions of dollars from the state’s health care budget without any regard for the taxpayers,” said TAB President Bill Hammond. “What is the motivation behind the exemption? Why are 251 counties participating on a level playing field for health care access and accountability, while three counties have carte blanche? The business community and taxpayers are very interested in that answer, and we demand that the state agencies, Legislature, and Governor respond to this alarming exemption.”
