Should Washington give the states money for healthcare?
The rationale behind turning healthcare over to the states is straightforward.
The rationale behind turning healthcare over to the states is straightforward.
The phrase "extortion racket" does not usually bring forth the image of a person in a white coat with a stethoscope. But here in the Lone Star State, health-care extortion is legal and hurts Texans both economically and medically.
Death by queueing is the inevitable result of government control of healthcare spending.
The 2016-17 Texas biennial state budget is $209.9 billion. The largest item, $77.2 billion, goes to Health and Human Services (HHS). Sixty-two billion dollars of the HHS budget — 30 percent of all Texas spending — is consumed by the Texas Medicaid program.
Voters in Hidalgo County now have twice rejected adding another administrative special taxing district– and were wise to do so. Adding new districts simply adds more layers of bureaucracy and increases costs, while redistributing more money from taxpayers and away from needed services, instead of focusing on the intended beneficiaries — patients, in this case.
The Affordable Care Act, healthcare has become the epitome of dollar inefficiency—more and more healthcare spending that produces less and less of the outcome we want: healthcare.
Overinflated promises being made for expansion of Texas' Medicaid program remind us of two time-proven adages: "If it looks too good to be true, it probably is," and "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
"If politicians really want to help save Americans by making life-saving drugs readily available, they should get the government out of healthcare and unshackle the free market."
Though Washington decries Mylan's monopoly power and price gouging, it is Washington that created and protects Mylan's monopoly.
"Given the current low Medicaid reimbursement schedules, more than 30 percent of American doctors can’t afford to care for Medicaid patients. If more Texas Medicaid dollars were available to pay doctors and hospitals, more Medicaid patients could actually get care. What good is having Medicaid coverage, or any insurance for that matter, if you can’t get timely care?"
The idea of expanding Medicaid may be well intended, but it will lead to a unfortunate outcome for the people of Texas.