But Medicaid is still threatening your state budget. On January 7, the Governors and Governors-elect of 33 states sent a letter to Executive and Congressional leaders. In this letter they state the concerns of mounting Medicaid pressure on their budgets associated with requirements in the stimulus package and ObamaCare. A number of state think tanks, in Pennsylvania and Louisiana for example, have released reports calling for Medicaid reform in addition to Texas. There will be more reports in the future comparing ObamaCare’s effect on different states.
With Medicaid coming under increasing scrutiny it becomes obvious that one thing is consistent. Texas is not the only state with budget problems, and across the country the realization is hitting home that Medicaid is an unsustainable program for states.
For Texas to maintain Medicaid, through 2014-15, through revenue enhancement it would require a 4.5 cent increase to the state sales tax. That tax increase would have to come this session to raise the necessary revenue in time – a feat unlikely under the current legislative mantra of “no new taxes”. If this increase were enacted Texas would have the heaviest average sales tax burden in the nation. Proportional cuts in other parts of the budget would mean billions of dollars from education spending.
Reforming Medicaid will lead to better quality of care, less burden on taxpayers, and more freedom for states to serve their citizens. But in this current crisis, Medicaid reform is about saving state budgets from crumbling.
The few still in defense of Medicaid as it is would do well to remember that Medicaid, in its current state, is a notoriously low quality care provider and an increasingly expensive program. Not much to hang your hat on.
The time has come for reform.
-Spencer Harris