AUSTIN—Today, Texas Public Policy Foundation published the paper, Extend Gains from Welfare Reform to Texas Medicaid.

“National focus on socialist-style Medicare-for-All and Medicare for America is rejecting a critical lesson from the highly successful reform of welfare in the 1990s,” said Dr. Deane Waldman, M.D., M.B.A., distinguished senior fellow on health care policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “The path from welfare rolls to self-sufficiency and prosperity requires personal responsibility, not increasing dependence on government. This includes medical welfare — Medicaid.”

“TPPF applauds the Administration’s recognition of the relationship between work and health, as well as its initiative to grant states more flexibility in designing their Medicaid programs,” said Jennifer Minjarez, policy analyst for Right on Healthcare at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “Now is a critical time for Texas to explore innovative Medicaid reforms that empower beneficiaries to take personal responsibility for their health and gradually transition off welfare.”

Key Points:

  • In 1996, personal responsibility was infused into government welfare programs such as TANF and SNAP.
  • Both Texas and Texans can benefit when personal responsibility is added to welfare programs such as Medicaid.
  • More than a dozen states have taken the initiative to incorporate personal responsibility elements into their Medicaid programs.
  • Texas should seek a Section 1115 waiver to add personal responsibility to its Medicaid program.

To read the paper in full, please visit: https://www.texaspolicy.com/extend-gains-from-welfare-reform-to-texas-medicaid/