Medicaid in Texas
Texas is one of the largest states in the United States. Its decision to abandon the huge investments of federal money and not insure its more than a million people under Obama care has certain advantages and disadvantages. The decision will prevent the federal state of Texas from receiving the estimated $100 billion, which was to be utilized for healthcare expenditures for uninsured people (Tribune, 2017). The decision is pegged on the need to reduce its debt. The uncovered costs were supposed to be covered through taxpayers’ money. Ideally, if Texas accepted to pay for all uninsured people, the tax rate will have to increase within the state. Therefore, the citizens would have to bear huge burden of tax from their income (Mangan, 2017). Although access to healthcare in the United States remains a key issue, legislators in Texas continue to debate about the advantages and disadvantages of Medicaid. The analysis of merits and demerits of Medicaid in the state of Texas would provide insights on better policy recommendations.
Several advantages are associated with Medicaid. For instance, a significant number of individuals have not been insured, which means their access to healthcare facilities rate is significantly poor. This problem may seem to affect certain individuals only, but its long run effect on the state is dire. Based on past analysis, Medicaid has been known to offer some form of financial protection to the state. Therefore, it provides economic support to the state and its citizens (Tribune, 2017). In addition, the expansion costs required to capture the other members of the society are minimal. In fact, such an endeavor would not will affect the state’s resource significantly. Moreover, Medicaid addresses the issue of uncompensated care problems and reduces cost shifting in the provision of healthcare services.
Although Medicaid has several advantages, it is also limited in certain ways. For instance, the insured individuals already have access to all the required health care. In fact, some of the services are free. Therefore, they do not necessarily need Medicaid for their survival in the current system (Tribune, 2017). In addition, the expansion of Medicaid is going to be expensive for the state. In fact, most opponents of Medicaid urge the state government to take care of the program through their own resources instead of shifting burden to the federal state. The expansion of such programs, like in the case of Texas, is quite expensive since it trickles down to the ordinary people who are required to pay more taxes. Texas is among the lists of states that refuse to spend federal money based on their deficits. The situation is dire to an extent that other states feel that they cannot afford any form of Medicaid expansion (Tribune, 2017). Even though the federal government has insisted that they pay all the costs associated with enrolling new individuals, the Texas state government has not taken any measure in addressing this fight (Tribune, 2017). Overall, Medicaid has been turned into a political battle between the Republicans and Democrats. Each of these parties has its own ideology on the effectiveness of the Medicaid program. Based on the political tension over the program, it has lost its original meaning of providing access to healthcare to all individuals in the United States irrespective of political sideshows. It is necessary to review the program while prioritizing on the needs of the citizens.
References
Mangan, D. (2017). Don’t mess with Medicaid expansion? Texas’ lesson. CNBC. Retrieved 8 February 2017, from http://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/29/texas-pays-a-big-price-for saying no-to-medicaid-expansion.html
Tribune, T. (2017). North Texas Hospitals Face $27 Million Penalty in Medicaid Dispute. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 8 February 2017, from https://www.texastribune.org/2016/09/07/north-texas-hospitals-face-27-million-cut Medicaid/
Tribune, T. (2017). North Texas Hospitals Face $27 Million Penalty in Medicaid Dispute. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 8 February 2017, from https://www.texastribune.org/2016/09/07/north-texas-hospitals-face-27-million-cut Medicaid/