AUSTIN – The Texas Legislature deserves praise for sending the Health Care Compact to Gov. Rick Perry’s desk, the Texas Public Policy Foundation said. The Health Care Compact was included in the conference committee report on Senate Bill 7, which won final approval in both houses earlier today.
“The Texas Legislature’s approval of our state’s participation in the Health Care Compact is one huge step forward to having health care decisions made as close to home as possible, ideally by citizens in consultation with their physicians and without interference from the federal government,” said TPPF Executive Director Arlene Wohlgemuth. “America’s health care crisis is not going to be solved by Washington, DC, but rather by getting those decisions out of DC and back to the people of Texas.”
Once Gov. Rick Perry signs Senate Bill 7, Texas will join Georgia and Oklahoma as participants in the Health Care Compact. Legislation has also been introduced or is being drafted in at least one dozen other states.
“Medicaid in its present form is unsustainable for Texas,” Wohlgemuth said. “Without the flexibility and cost predictability provided by the Health Care Compact, the federal Medicaid program will further crowd out core state government functions such as education, public safety, and transportation.”
The Honorable Arlene Wohlgemuth is the Executive Director and Director of the Center for Health Care Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin. She served 10 years in the Texas House of Representatives, specializing in health care issues.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
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