Texas Senate Committee Drops Efforts to Simplify Medicaid in Budget Recommendations

In making its recommendations for the $14 billion state Health and Human Services budget, the Texas Senate Finance Committee did not allocate any funding to "simplify the Medicaid application process," the AP/Ft. Worth Star-Telegram reports. While "top" lawmakers had earlier called the $400 million simplification efforts a "priority," higher-than-expected Medicaid enrollment figures and prescription drug costs have created a $602 million shortfall for the program over the past two years, prompting legislators to cut the enrollment measures in order to save money. Proposals to simplify Medicaid included reducing the "large" amount of paperwork, providing continuous coverage for 12 months and "eliminating" face-to-face interviews to determine eligibility. Supporters said the proposals would "help sign up most" of the 600,000 children in Texas that are eligible for Medicaid but not enrolled. Updated revenue estimates and cost cutting could produce a "budget bump" when the House and Senate negotiate a final budget package, which would allow lawmakers to include the provisions (Mabin, AP/Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, 3/13).