November 30, 2016      6:28 PM

Texas must be aggressive but smart on health care in the Trump era, advocates say

“There’s a big formula fight in our future, and part of the challenge...is to get Texas to fight for the bigger ball of wax"

A Trump Administration may mean a seismic shift in the Affordable Care Act, but Texas health care advocates say it will be critical to continue to fight for the state’s share of Medicaid dollars.

Texas is one of 19 states that refused to accept federal funds to expand Medicaid eligibility, but it does benefit from a Medicaid 1115 waiver. The Health and Human Services Commission recently negotiated an extension of the five-year $29 billion waiver through the end of 2017.

Once intended to be a supplement to pioneer new and innovative regional partnerships, those Medicaid payments have become a lifeline to many hospitals. Those payments, in fact, are almost a third of the revenue for hospitals, equal to direct pay for hospital care.

Anne Dunkelberg of the Center for Public Policy Priorities estimates the losses to Texas if the waiver is not extended would be $1.3 billion in federal funds. Actually, the total would be $2.3 billion because local governments are expected to put up matching funds.

By Kimberly Reeves

Copyright November 30, 2016, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved