On Re-Election Campaign Trail, Texas Governor Announces Care Proposals
While on the campaign trail on May 29, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), who is running for re-election, announced several health care proposals, including a measure that would allow small businesses to purchase health care coverage through a state-run pool, the Austin American-Statesman reports (Susswein, Austin American-Statesman, 5/30). Perry's plan would allow companies with fewer than 10 employees -- nearly three out of every four business in the state -- to buy health insurance through the Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool, which offers insurance to residents who are unable to procure private insurance because of pre-existing conditions or other reasons ( AP/Houston Chronicle, 5/30). Monthly premiums for pool coverage range from $180 to $750. Perry also proposed the following:
- Using $20 million from the state's share of the national tobacco settlement to double the number of federally qualified health centers in underserved and rural areas between 2004 and 2005;
- Enacting a law that would require insurers to offer a prescription drug benefit in their Medicare+Choice plans;
- Allocating $1.1 million to treat uninsured women with breast and cervical cancers (Austin American-Statesman, 5/30). Although state lawmakers approved the state's participation in a federal program that allows states to cover through Medicaid treatments for low-income women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer through a CDC screening program, they have not yet allocated any funding for the program (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/26); and
- Requesting a federal waiver to allow families enrolled in the state's CHIP program to purchase employer-sponsored health coverage, which would be subsidized by the state.
Opposition
Tony Sanchez, the Democratic candidate for governor, said Perry's health care plan "is not only mainly too little too late, but it is also a transparent attempt to paper over his indifference to Texas' growing health care crisis that has literally jeopardized the health of millions of Texans." Anne Dunkelberg of the Austin-based Center for Public Policy Priorities, said, "These are all small, incremental proposals," adding, "Clearly, there's nothing here that makes a major reversal of the numbers of uninsured people in the state." About 4.5 million Texans are uninsured (Austin American-Statesman, 5/30).
