Future Texas Budgets Need to ‘Corral’ Health Care Needs, Lt. Gov. Writes

In drafting future state budgets, Texas lawmakers will face many "tough issues," but finding a way to "corral the rising costs of health care" should be the top priority, Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Ratliff (R) writes in a Houston Chronicle op-ed. Ratliff writes that his op-ed is in response to comments from "folks from every end of [the] state" who have said that the state's current budget of "$114 billion is a lot of money." But he maintains that the budget makes "ends meet" while "stretching" state dollars. Noting that the state's population has "soared" 25% over the past 10 years, Ratliff writes that past state budgets have "struggled" to meet the demands of the second-largest population in the country. Medicaid and the state employee health plan, for example, are "huge" costs for the state. In particular, the state's health plan for retired teachers required an additional $452 million in the last session just to remain solvent. Further, the state has had to account for its prescription drug costs, which have "skyrocketed" 56% over the past two years, the "enormous" medical costs of mental health and mental retardation facilities and foster children care (Ratliff, Houston Chronicle, 8/15). For further information on state health policy in Texas, visit State Health Facts Online.