The Texas Hospital Association said Texas should study its options carefully before finalizing any Medicaid expansion strategy, according to a Nov. 12 statement from the association’s president and CEO, John Hawkins, who called for broader health coverage “without unintended consequences.”
According to the association, Texas politics have shifted significantly since Election Day, bringing Medicaid expansion and its potential implications for the state’s uninsured population, hospitals and budget to the forefront of health care policy discussions as lawmakers look ahead to the next legislative session.
“Getting more Texans covered ultimately reduces healthcare costs for everyone. That continues to be the goal, especially as we head into this session,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins said that for Medicaid expansion to be a suitable path to coverage gains in Texas, something must be done about provisions Congress passed in HR 1, which the association said could make administering and financing the program unworkable for new expansion states.
“We support more coverage, without unintended consequences. Options need to be studied and understood before finalizing an expansion strategy,” he said.
In the near term, the association said it would like to see federal action to quickly restore the exchange subsidies that make coverage more affordable and to repeal what Hawkins called HR 1’s “punitive Medicaid cuts.”
At the state level, Hawkins said the association wants the Legislature to focus on removing enrollment barriers in the current Medicaid program and to take advantage of existing coverage expansion opportunities in mental health, women’s health and rural health.
Founded in 1930 and based in Austin, the Texas Hospital Association says it represents more than 85% of the state’s acute-care hospitals and health care systems, which employ some 400,000 health care professionals statewide.