We would have expanded Medicaid at our first opportunity.
It’s constitutional – deal with it
Federal health officials say people with mental illness and addictions are being left behind in Texas because the state hasn’t expanded Medicaid to more low-income adults.
The health care program for the poor is controversial for many Republicans. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that expansion was a voluntary part of the Affordable Care Act, and 19 states have declined to expand it.
A new federal report estimates that expanding Medicaid in Texas could help 406,000 mentally ill and uninsured Texans get treatment, according to Richard Frank, an Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“If states are serious about addressing mental illnesses, opioids, and other substance use disorders, expanding Medicaid offers a unique opportunity to do so,” Frank said in a national conference call with reporters. “It will bring people into effective treatment and is fully paid for under the Affordable Care Act.”
The new federal report discusses how untreated mental illness affects homelessness, job productivity, and jails and prisons. The report says states that did expand Medicaid were able to save money on programs for mental health or the uninsured, or divert the money to other programs.
A copy of the report is embedded at the link above. This is the same song we’ve been singing since 2011, with this being roughly the 1000th verse. The positive effect of getting access to reliable mental health care for these people cannot be overstated – among many other things, it would keep a lot of so-called frequent flyers out of jail – but the state Republican leadership does not care and will not hear it. You know how whenever there’s another gun massacre, the only thing we’re all allowed to say is that we should do more to promote mental health as a way to maybe not have so many gun massacres? The part we’re not allowed to say is that the Republicans in this state won’t do a damn thing to actually promote mental health. It’s the same old story, and the only way it ends is with electing different leaders. The Statesman has more.