All of these are from last week. Bexar County:
It’s constitutional – deal with it
On a bipartisan vote, Bexar County commissioners Tuesday urged Texas lawmakers to expand the state’s Medicaid program and take advantage of federal matching funds under the Affordable Care Act.
“From 2014 to 2017, expansion will bring $27.2 billion in federal revenue to Texas for just over $3 billion in state investments,” said County Judge Nelson Wolff.
In Bexar County, the expansion “would provide insurance for more than 200,000 currently uninsured” residents, Wolff said.
The court’s resolution noted that Texas has the nation’s highest percentage of uninsured residents, 24 percent, and Bexar County has 396,000 uninsured.
Unanimous approval of the resolution came after the head of the University Health System said the county stands to gain $53 million a year.
[…]
Precinct 3 Commissioner Kevin Wolff, the court’s lone Republican, said it was difficult to support the resolution but did so because significant funds were at stake.
“I will support this even though philosophically our governor is right” in opposing expansion, Wolff said.
“This has got to be fixed at a different level than ours,” he added.
Hidalgo County Commissioners Court has become the first governmental entity in the Rio Grande Valley to pass a resolution in support of expanding Medicaid to include coverage for adults.
The resolution, which was supported both by the RGV Equal Voice Network and Valley Interfaith, passed unanimously on Tuesday.
“We are very grateful county commissioners have supported this resolution to expand Medicaid, particularly since Hidalgo County has the highest rate of uninsured people,” said Ann Williams Cass, chair of the RGV Equal Voice Network’s health working group.
“This will allow the parents in a family of four that makes less than $14 an hour to qualify for Medicaid coverage.”
Cass said Hidalgo County needs healthy families and a healthy workforce. “This is opportunity to get over $400 million a year in federal money for the first three years for Adult Medicaid in Hidalgo County,” she said.
Cass paid tribute to the work of Texas Well and Healthy, Center for Public Policy Priorities, the Children’s Defense Fund. All three are supporting the expansion of Medicaid to include adults. “They have offered us so much help. They deserve credit for all the hard work they have done,” Cass said.
With more than $200 million a year at stake, the Travis County Commissioners Court is urging the Legislature to expand Medicaid coverage to more needy people in Texas, the state with the highest rate of uninsured residents.
The court spent time Tuesday tweaking the resolution that it passed last week to satisfy its lone Republican member, Gerald Daugherty. It was approved unanimously, 5-0. Austin Interfaith leader Oralia Garza Cortes called the bipartisan support “absolutely critical” and said that sister organizations of the advocacy group in Dallas and Bexar counties helped pass similar resolutions this month.
Austin Interfaith and its allies hope those efforts put pressure on the Legislature to expand Medicaid, a central but now optional part of the federal health care law.
See here for the original story. Cameron County joined in last week as well. A long and getting longer list of organizations that support Medicaid expansion, put together by Progress Texas and Texas Well & Healthy, can be found here. Despite Harris County Judge Ed Emmett’s support of Medicaid expansion, I am not currently aware of any action on Harris County Commissioners Court’s part to pass a resolution. It should be noted, however, that while counties are the ones that are on the knife’s edge for this, other government entities can call on Rick Perry and the Legislature to act as well. Both Austin City Council and Waco City Council have passed resolutions or legislative agendas in support of Medicaid expansion. It would be great if Harris County Commissioners Court got in the game, but there’s no reason for Houston City Council to sit out.
One more thing. PDiddie, who was at the big rally for Medicaid on Tuesday, reminds us that Medicaid expansion isn’t just about saving lives, it’s also about making them worth living.
Then there are the personal stories. For example: my father, 86, who had a good job all his working life and then a comfortable retirement, is at medium-to-end-stage dementia and has essentially outlived his assets. So it’s humiliating enough for seniors like him who find themselves at the prospect of spending the very end of their lives on the government dole (when they are even capable of understanding that). But because health care providers are refusing new Medicaid patients — in large part because the state pays its Medicaid bills very slowly — people like him are falling straight from middle class all the way through the shredded safety net.
And people like him have no advocates. My dad can’t write a letter or an e-mail; can’t make a phone call, can’t go to a townhall meeting to speak to his state rep, can’t march at a rally. You know what’s even worse about his situation, though? If he lived in Arizona, or New Jersey, or Florida, he would be getting covered. Because their conservative governors can see the benefits of expanding Medicaid. Not our governor, though.
Everyone who is in a position to do something about expanding Medicaid but refuses to do so should be required to look Perry and his dad in the eye and explain themselves to them. Maybe that would finally break the grip of whatever madness it is that envelops them. BOR has more from the rally.