What Will Texas Do? Expand Medicaid or Adopt A Better Strategy?

Is government health plan financing simply a price fixing scheme having little to do with supply and demand resulting in constricted access to care in an otherwise (almost) free market system?

What to Know: There are renewed calls for Texas to expand Medicaid—a move rejected by the Legislature last session (and in previous sessions). Some of those calls are coming from Republicans.

The TPPF Take: Expanding Medicaid is not the answer; Medicaid too often fails to provide real access to care for its enrollees. Coverage does not equal care.

“The reality is that Medicaid reimbursement rates remain below what it costs to provide the services in many cases,” says TPPF’s Roy Maynard. “For the vast majority of a patient’s needs, Direct Primary Care is the ideal model—quick and easy access to a physician, with personalized follow-up and a real relationship between the doctor and the patient.”

For more on Direct Primary Care, click here.

Texas Public Policy Foundation, 901 Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701, United States, 5124722700