Fort Bend County, y’all.
RESOLUTION OF THE FORT BEND COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT IN SUPPORT OF EXPANSION OF MEDICAIL) COVERAGE
WHEREAS, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured [24%) and underinsured in the United States and 23% of the residents of Fort Bend County are uninsured, and
WHEREAS, Expanding Medicaid would ensure 1.5 million more Texans get the medical care they need, and
WHEREAS, Medicaid already helps over 2.5 million Texas children, but Medicaid covers only about 225,000 of their parents, and
WHEREAS, Expanding Medicaid would be an economic windfall as every $1 Texas spent Would generate $1.29 in state revenue, increase local government tax
collections by another 51 cents, and save local governments $1.21, andWHEREAS, Texas hospitals provide over $5 billion a year in uncompensated care, and local county taxes help pay for much of this care; insuring more Texans through Medicaid expansion will lower county costs for this care, and
WHEREAS, Opting out of expanding coverage won’t reduce Texans’ federal tax burden as federal funding for the Medicaid expansion program will simply be
redirected from Texas to other participating states, andWHEREAS, The federal government will cover the entire cost of expanding Medicaid for participating states during the first three years and will pay no less than 90% of the total cost thereafter. During the period 2014-2017, expansion will bring $27.2 billion in federal revenue to Texas for just $3.1 billion in state investment, and
WHEREAS, Covering the uninsured means better insurance Value for all Texans with private health insurance, and
WHEREAS, Getting parents health coverage is one of the best things we can do to ensure the economic stability and future of Texas families, and
WHEREAS, this Resolution is found to serve a public purpose.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
Fort Bend County supports and endorses the full expansion of Medicaid coverage to all Texas U.S. citizen adults living at or below 133% of the Federal Poverty Level, in accordance with the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
This happened last Tuesday. Fort Bend County Commissioners Court has two Republicans, two Democrats, and a Republican County Judge. The resolution passed unanimously. The Central Fort Bend Chamber of Commerce also passed a resolution. We know that Rick Perry isn’t listening to what the people are saying, but as with the protesters on Monday I’m pretty sure he has to be hearing it.
Meanwhile, a reminder that the Affordable Care Act is already helping many Texans, and that Rick Perry isn’t being honest when he says that “only three in ten Texas physicians accept Medicaid”. That’s not quite as egregious as saying that Medicaid would be bad for people who currently have no health care, but it all comes from the same place. Either you want people to have access to health care or you don’t. Expanding Medicaid isn’t the only way to do it, but if you’ve had twelve years in office to find other ways to do it and have failed to do so, you don’t get to claim there are other, better alternatives out there.