Texas Lawmakers Press Gov. Perry to Lobby for Additional Federal Health Care Dollars

A group of Texas lawmakers is "urg[ing]" Gov. Rick Perry (R) to request federal dollars for local health programs, after he vetoed legislation on June 17 that would have required the state Health and Human Services Commission to do just that, the AP/Dallas Morning News reports. Rep. Ann Kitchen (D) said, "Failure to take advantage of hundreds of millions of dollars for health care to Texas communities at no additional cost for the state or local taxpayers is shortsighted fiscal policy." The AP/Morning News reports that Democrat lawmakers Glen Maxey, Dawnna Dukes and Elliott Naishtat have requested to meet with Perry in the hopes of "persuad[ing]" him to request additional funds from the federal government to under expand Medicaid eligibility. Kitchen added, "When Texans are facing a crisis in funding health care and the state has tremendous budgetary pressures, it is our responsibility to maximize every dollar we spend." However, Gene Acuna, a spokesperson for Perry, said the governor wanted to focus on "restructuring" the state's current Medicaid program. "The governor would like to ensure that existing programs are run efficiently and then take a look at new initiatives," Acuna said (AP/Dallas Morning News, 6/22).

Simplifying Medicaid Enrollment
In other Texas Medicaid news, an additional 150,000 children are expected to enroll in the program by August 2003 because of a new application simplification law. The law, which takes effect in January, will replace the current 17-page application and required verifications with a "single form and fewer verifications." Designed after the enrollment process for the state's CHIP program, the re-enrollment procedure for Medicaid will no longer require an in-person interview and children will not lose their coverage due to "fluctuations" in their parents' income. With 1.4 million uninsured children in Texas, state Sen. Judith Zaffirini (D), said she was "disappoint[ed]" with the enrollment projections. "I want everyone who is eligible for health care to receive it," she said. When the Legislature passed the bill, lawmakers were told that up to 600,000 children who are eligible for Medicaid have not enrolled because of application barriers (AP/Houston Chronicle, 6/21).