AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation applauds the Texas House for its preliminary approval of House Bill 5 by Rep. Lois Kolkhorst, the Health Care Compact.
“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,” said TPPF Executive Director Arlene Wohlgemuth. “Tonight’s vote by the Texas House gets us one step closer 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.”
The Texas Public Policy Foundation originated the idea of using interstate compacts to restore the balance of power between the federal government and the states. The Health Care Compact legislation is the first application of this new approach.
The type of health care system implemented by a member state is not prescribed in the Health Care Compact, a four-page document that puts states in control of both health care regulation and federal funding within their state. States are free to implement any system they choose-from a government single-payer system to a decentralized, market-based system.
“The only certain way to deny people in need the services they need is to continue with the current Medicaid program,” 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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