At an estimated population of over 4.3 million people, Harris County is the largest county in the state of Texas, and the third largest in the United States. In population, Harris County is actually larger than 24 states.
With those big numbers come big challenges, especially regarding healthcare costs. Thanks to the belligerence of Republicans in the Texas legislature, Harris County continues to shoulder a massive burden in uncompensated healthcare costs, while large counties in other states have access to new funds under the Affordable Care Act. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, himself a Republican, is now speaking out to let Rick Perry and other Texas politicians know that the politics over the ACA cannot continue. Here’s the story from News92 FM…
Harris County taxpayers right now have to bear the entire cost of paying for indigent healthcare.
Judge Ed Emmett said the Affordable Care Act could help provide some relief.
Emmett said while certain people at the state can argue about the “benefits or detriments” of the Affordable Care Act, those are our tax dollars in Washington and state law makers need to find a way to bring them back to Texas.
“The tax dollars in Washington, those belong to people here too,” Emmett said. “And so those need to come back to the state of Texas to help us off set some of these property taxes.”
Emmett and other urban county judges from across the state, both Republicans and Democrats, have written to Texas lawmakers urging them to find a solution.
Emmett says during the last legislative session, Harris County missed out being reimbursed hundreds of millions of dollars.
“$900 million over a two-year period would have come back to Harris County, of that less than $100 million would have gone to the Harris County Hospital District,” Emmett said.
Ask any property owner in Harris County… their taxes have shot up in the recent years, mostly thanks to a booming economy which increases property values. But what hasn’t improved are the amount of funds available to appropriately combat a growing burden of uncompensated care.
This is a point on which Judge Emmett agrees with Leticia Van de Putte and Wendy Davis… if elected, they have already promised to make Medicaid Expansion a priority for the upcoming legislative session. Outside of Austin, a bi-partisan coalition is forming to end senseless opposition to the Affordable Care Act. Texas cannot afford to play any more political games, and the politicians that choose to continue do so at their own electoral risk.
Here’s more evidence that Texas GOP Congress members really are in a pickle over the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), despite what they say to the contrary. From reporter Emily Wilkins of the Dallas Morning News…
Aides to Dallas Rep. Jeb Hensarling’s office recently said that he would gladly help any constituent having trouble enrolling in a health plan under the Affordable Care Act.
“Providing outstanding constituent service is a top priority,” an aide said, and that includes “their dealings with all federal agencies and bureaucracies.”
The next morning, Hensarling joined other House Republicans in voting for the 41st time to repeal the law. That illustrates how Texas Republicans are in the position of helping constituents with a program they are simultaneously attempting to derail as the next major step of Obamacare is drawing near.
On Oct. 1, the insurance marketplace will open and 6 million uninsured Texans must pick a plan or face a tax penalty. Organizations working to help North Texans understand the new health care act said they haven’t heard much from federal lawmakers. [note: the enrollment period starts October 1st, 2013 and ends March 31st, 2014.]
“I’ll leave it up to their offices to determine if they feel responsibility to get the word out,” said Tim McKinney, chief executive of United Way of Tarrant County. “I would hope they would.”
[…]
Texas Republicans in Congress universally oppose the new health care law. But a sampling found none who said they would turn away constituents with problems accessing its benefits.
Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, calls the law “bad for America” and contends it has the potential to destroy the economy. But he’s kept his staff in touch with the Department of Health and Human Services. And Burgess arranged a meeting with the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services after he felt he wasn’t getting as much information as he needed.
“I’ll share with anyone who calls the information I have,” Burgess said.
Even Sen. Ted Cruz, a leader in efforts to strip funding for implementation of the law, promised to help Texans participate if they call.
“I am honored to represent 26 million Texans,” he recently told CNN. “And dealing with the government is inherently frustrating. It’s inherently confusing, and one of the things our office takes very seriously is trying to help Americans deal with the government.”
To be clear, when the Republicans threaten to “defund Obamacare” they’re basically telling a bald-faced lie. Whatever your conception of Obamacare may be, we are already living under much of the law’s provisions, and reaping substantial benefits from them. Right now, several provisions of the Affordable Care Act are Federal law, including…
— the eradication of lifetime limits. That means if you get sick with an expensive disease, your insurance company can’t drop you once health care expenses pass a certain point.
And a whole lot more. With 20 states already participating in the ACA Medicaid Expansion, millions of Americans now have access to affordable care that they previously did not have available. All of these changes are part of Obamacare. So when the GOP runs around and says they want to repeal it, what they really want to do is take away your right to appeal, stop covering children with pre-existing conditions restore lifetime limits on coverage, and yank Medicaid coverage for the millions that received it under the expansion. They are also betting on you not being able to read, talk to someone about the law, and discover for yourself why so many of these changes are important. This is what they are threatening a government shut-down for… to ruin people’s lives who are already benefitting from Obamacare.
Which is what is so laughable about this article… the audacity of them to proclaim how horrible the Affordable Care Act is, but then to simultaneously be a valuable government resource on the law for their constituents? Do they know that by pledging to “help” their constituents enroll and navigate the exchanges, they are actually making the law even more impossible to dismantle than it already is?
Senator Ted Cruz is correct on one point… he and his offices do in fact represent all 26 million Texans in the United States Senate, and some of those 26 million Texans will enroll using the Healthcare Exchange. The same goes for Senator Cornyn, Congressman Ted Poe, and all the other 35 Congressional Representatives. But on this issue, the Republicans are not representing Texas very well.
As my former choir director says, “At any point in time, you can only be doing one of two things… helping or hurting. You can’t do both at the same time.” Despite what they may say to reporters, the Texas GOP is squarely in the HURTING column on Obamacare, and the general welfare of the people they serve. They continue to lie and misinform Texans about the provisions of the existing law, and new provisions coming up. Rather than helping constituents to understand the law and it’s wide-range of changes, they skip all substantive information, and instead champion creepy ads like the one from Koch Brothers’ spawn Generation Opportunity.
So please, whatever you do, don’t believe the GOP when they say they’re going to “help” constituents with any part of the Affordable Care Act. The only things they want to help are their political careers.
Though his candidacy for Texas Land Commisssioner technically started in July, George P. Bush actually started running for the office this week by offering his first set of firm opinions. From Grommer Jeffers Jr. of the Dallas Morning News, here’s the heir apparent finally speaking in something other than broad, non-committal platitudes…
Texas Land Commission candidate George P. Bush said Wednesday he supports controversial efforts by federal lawmakers to defund the Affordable Care Act.
“It’s a monstrosity of a law,” he said. “In terms of defunding it, that would be one way to reduce and mitigate the impact it’s going to have on practicing physicians and hospitals here in Texas.”
Bush was in Addison to deliver the keynote address at the Metrocrest Chamber of Commerce luncheon celebration the George Herbert Walker Bush Elementary School.
Before his speech, the Fort Worth Republican told me that he hoped Congress would be successful in stopping the implementation of the new health care law, which is commonly known as Obamacare.
Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, want Congress to approve a continuing resolution that funds government operations, but does not leave money for the Affordable Care Act. Such legislation would be vetoed by President Barack Obama, setting up a showdown that could result in a government shutdown.
Bush, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, said he backed Cruz’s efforts.
“I agree with this effort to defund it, or keep Texas out of the program unless we can modify it to a Texas-specific solution,” he said.
Bush is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for Texas land commissioner. He’s considered one of the party’s rising stars and is expected to cruise in next year’s election.
He’s expected to “Cruz” through next year’s election, eh?
Unless there’s a strong Democratic candidate, that’s what will happen. In his quest for Land Commissioner, Bush is running unopposed in the Republican primary so far, and it’s quite probable that’s how things will remain. Conversely, He’s making a specific effort to stay well under the radar. Bush wants to get elected quietly and calmly… just how his uncle moved swiftly through the ranks before defeating Ann Richards in 1994.
But remember, when George P. Bush says he wants to defund Obamacare, that means he wants millions of Texans, eligible today for MediCaid, to continue to make due without any kind of health insurance. He wants hospitals all over the state to wade through the financial struggle of seeing patients without any compensation. He wants people to be denied health care due to a pre-existing condition. He wants insurance companies to keep spend money on executive bonuses, instead of providing the best health care for the hard- earned dollars of Texas families. What he and the Republican Party support is not better health care for Texas… it’s the continuation of Crisis Care.
This is a clarion call to Democrats. Most politicos in the state are pretty sure that George P. Bush is destined to win this seat. But a Democratic candidate can bring Bush out of the shadows by running a good campaign. A main reason why Texas Republicans are able to stay so dominant? Because Texans aren’t presented with reasonable alternatives. If Bush is running as a relative unknown, a Democratic candidate could, at the very least, force him into a debate so Texans get to see a true choice in this race. And of course… if they don’t run, there’s no way they can win.
Great, yet another member of the Bush family rising up through the political ranks. Which is why I agree with the family matriarch… “We’ve had enough Bushes” in Texas statewide politics. He just gave up some ammo here, and I hope Democrats choose to use it.
In a week filled with more eye-catching stories like the Oscar Pistorius murder saga and the looming “Republiquester”, it’s perhaps not surprising that Healthcare news isn’t on the front burner. But make no mistake… some news out of the Sunshine State is THE most important story of this week.
Last summer, after the Supreme Court’s shocking decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, Republicans immediately stood up in defiance. The Governors of Texas, Florida, Arizona and other GOP-led states pledged then and there to fight every provision of Obamacare until their last breath. Florida Governor Rick Scott could be said the main instigator of this… after all it was his state that was the first to file suit against the law.
“While the federal government is committed to pay 100 percent of the cost, I cannot, in good conscience, deny Floridians the needed access to health care,” Scott said at a hastily called news conference at the Governor’s Mansion.
So basically… Rick Scott had to eat it. He finally sat down at his desk, looked at the PEOPLE and the MATH converging, and decided that the lives of over 1 million Floridians would benefit from Obamacare’s Medicaid provision. Make no mistake, this is a humongous win for President Obama and the Democrats, but more importantly, it’s a win for the life and health of the citizens of Florida. If the state legislature follows Governor Scott’s lead, lives will be saved in Florida. People will get care in Florida.
Now on to the true point of this article… when is Texas Governor Rick Perry going to see the ligtht as well? For all that Florida stands to benefit fom Medicaid expansion, Texans are in an even greater need.
–1 in 4 Texans are uninsured. That’s over over 6.2 million people as of 2010, and more uninsured than any other state.
-These uninsured people have no but choice to seek the emergency room. As a result they drive up Healthcare costs for everyone else. The average cost to treat a minor ailment in the Doctors office? $56.21. In the emergency room? $193.92. That’s almost 4 times the expense as it would be going to the doctor for a similar ailment (much less waiting until it becomes WORSE). Guess who absorbs those costs? And Texans wonder why our healthcare costs are soaring.
–Only 50% of working Texans have health insurance… 49th in the country. The common misconception here is that employers are supposed to offer some form of a health insurance plan. That wasn’t actually a law until the passage of the Affordable Care Act. As a right-to-work state with a plethora of low-wage jobs, Texas companies have very little incentive to offer health insurance. So contrary to popular belief, it’s not just those on welfare in Texas that are struggling to find health care. It’s many of the employed public too.
Let’s get personal for a second. The “bleeding-heart Liberal” in me wants to thank Rick Scott for his moment of clarity and sincerity, and celebrate this win for Florida, Democrats and affordable Health Care. But this is NOT the time to become complacent. The moment is now to put pressure on Governor Perry to do the math for our state. Even as he touts the “smoke and mirrors” budget surplus, Texas families are being devastated by employers that refuse to even offer health insurance (and are trying to sue their way out of it now that it’s mandated by Obamacare), and are continuing to lose sleep over that nagging health issue that they simply can’t afford to deal with this month… or the next… or the next… until it’s too late and becomes a life-or-death issue. We know that Medicaid isn’t perfect, but it’s a VAST improvement from “CrisisCaid”- the spiral so many Texans face where the emergency room is their only option. This is the moment for Texas Democrats to put pressure on the Governor. With now 7 GOP-led states biting their tongue, Rick Perry will be forced to follow suit. And if even doesn’t, Texas Democrats should carry it all the way to the 2014 ballot box.
So Gov… what’s it gonna be? That clock is still a-tickin’.
Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (you know… Obamacare), states are slowly coming to the inevitable conclusion. It is the LAW. The clock is now ticking for states like Texas to begin implementation of these new provisions of health care.
But don’t be fooled, that particular clock was ticking in Texas a long time ago. As evidenced in a previous post, Obamacare or not, state healthcare costs have been on a meteoric rise between 2005 and 2009, skyrocketing 36% during just those 4 years. Even as the costs for the state continue to mount, the number of Texans without insurance continues to rise as well.
–1 in 4 Texans are uninsured. That’s over over 6.2 million people as of 2010.
-These uninsured people have no but choice to seek the emergency room. As a result they drive up Healthcare costs for everyone else. The average cost to treat a minor ailment in the Doctors office? $56.21. In the emergency room? $193.92 That’s almost 4 times the expense as it would be going to the doctor for a similar ailment (much less waiting until it becomes WORSE). Guess who absorbs those costs? And Texans wonder why our healthcare costs are soaring.
–Only 50% of working Texans have health insurance… 49th in the country. The common misconception here is that employers are supposed to offer some form of a health insurance plan. That wasn’t actually a law until the passage of the Affordable Care Act. As a right-to-work state with a plethora of low-wage jobs, Texas companies have very little incentive to offer health insurance. So contrary to popular belief, it’s not just those on welfare in Texas that are struggling to find health care. It’s many of the employed public too.
In the face of these staggerring statistics, Governor Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and the Republican-led Texas legislature have vowed to fight the Affordable Care Act tooth and nail. It’s quite an odd stance too, as many Texas Hospitals are in full support of the Medicaid Expansion. Here is a statement from Dan Stults, President of the Texas Hospital Association…
“Texas hospitals recognize there are concerns with expanding the Medicaid population, but given the state’s high number of uninsured, all options for gaining insurance coverage must be closely considered. Under PPACA, a significant number of low income individuals could gain insurance without any cost to the state of Texas for several years. Without the Medicaid expansion, many will remain uninsured, shifting costs to the insured and increasing uncompensated care to health care providers,” said Dan Stultz, M.D., FACP, FACHE, THA president/chief executive officer.
“The law was never meant to fix all the problems facing the health care system,” Stultz said. “Texas hospitals look forward to a continued discussion on how to improve the effects of the law for patients, families and communities.”
So Texas hospitals are all for the expansion of Medicaid, the state funding gap for healthcare is increasing at an alarming rate, and our uninsured continue to tax our emergency rooms, and pass ever-ballooning costs to us Texans that are lucky enough to actually have insurance. But Perry and the boys don’t want any government help from “Obamacare”.
Only one question remains to the Governor. What is your alternative?? You continue to reject implementation of the new law, but how would you propose that Texas solve these problems? Are our good Texas companies going to have a change of heart and start insuring all of their workers? Maybe they’ll be nice enough to donate directly to the hospitals so the uninsured can get treated at the ER “for free”? Maybe all of our aging Baby-Boomers will get fed-up and move to Florida??
All Texans should be asking Governor Perry and state lawmakers these questions. If our state really does decide to opt-out we need a real plan in place, and it needs to get implemented now. Mr. Perry… Time’s up.
