Under the new health law, all states had the option to expand Medicaid to insure more adults. California did it, and now that state has fewer uninsured people than Texas, which is now number one. Robert Greenwald is director of Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation. He spoke to a group of Houston health leaders, suggesting they use new ways of framing the issue in the next legislative session. Greenwald says one major problem is refuting Governor Perry’s repeated claim that Medicaid is a broken system.
“It’s not that Medicaid is broken, it’s that Medicaid is expensive. And the reason it’s expensive especially in a place like Texas is that it’s limited to the most disabled, sickest, elderly population,” Greenwald said.
Greenwald says it would be different if Medicaid was offered to low-income, working adults. That population is relatively healthy and young. Getting them covered would not cost as much as the current program, and it would save money in the long run by keeping them healthy.
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