this doesnt make cents

THIS DOESNT MAKE CENTS

texas is number one again
no although most texans wish it was for sports
but its not
its what i think is number one for the wrong thing

back about 10 years ago when the dot com crash occurred
i had a lot of patients who were professional folks
many engineers for those dot com companies
got laid off
just walked in to work one day and was told sorry
were closed youre gone
zippo benefits to you
luckily some of the bigger companies like ibm and dell
gave some benefits to folks as they let were let go
so
for the first time in their lives these families were found
without health insurance coverage for themselves and the kids
and
this was pre obamacare where you had to worry about
preexisting conditions
people like me would have been uninsurable

then the federal government stepped in with a plan
that filled the gap between medicaid and private insurance
for kids not for adults

it was called the chips program
childrens health insurance program

these folks were able to get their kids covered on the chips program
pay a small copay for office visits
luckily for those in our system they were treated like an hmo or ppo patient

their kids got well child checks sick care and if they needed
hospitalization or pediatric speciality care
they saw the same folks and went to the same childrens hospital that
the private insurance folks did

i had many a parent cry in my  office although some were embarrassed
to be on the chips programs they were nonetheless happy their kids
were able to get healthcare when it was needed

now fast forward 10+ years to the present time

in the affordable care act under obamacare
the federal government has agreed to give to the states the money
to provide an expansion of medicaid to those who are caught
between the present medicaid programs and the new obamacare
policies you can buy and for many get subsidies to help with
the premiums

i think of this medicaid expansion as being like the chip program
that provided such a safety net for those hurt by the dot com
collapse
the bridge between medicaid and private insurance

there are 21 states plus the district of columbia who are accepting
medicaid expansion
4 states are considering it
then
25 who had decided not to expand medicaid

now this is where texas becomes number one
and
it in my opinion is a big embarrassment to being number one
this oil rich state should be embarrassed

we already rank close to the top in not providing care
to women and childrens

the unisured rate in texas is 24%
if the affordable care act was fully implemented in texas
that would drop the rate to 12%
click here for for information and statistics

the feds would give the state of texas $9,217,000,000
over the next 8 years to provide that coverage
what i call chips for adults and kids
that safety gap
thats 9 billion dollars
the cost to texas for this money
$92,000,000 maybe less

nope they said we aint gonna do it
so
those folks will not get needed healthcare
they will develop or advance their chronic diseases
they will over utilize the emergency room systems in the states
kids and women wont get preventative care
and
there will be a lot of unpaid for care

who pays for this
hospitals doctors and insurance companies and YOU
these groups charge more for their services to compensate
some for the lost monies
we pay more for our health insurance as a result
here in texas expect your premiums to go up

then those folks will eventually be a political force in this state
wonder which party they will vote for
this will all be a big issue in future elections here

one state arkansas got a waiver to use this money to buy
private insurance
the program apparently is going well
ive seen interviews with folks who are glad they have
health insurance now
but that state is thinking about pulling the plug on those folks

for those of you who oppose this
be sure and dont get fired or get laid off
or
you will be in that not covered category

we pay now or we all pay later

the organicgreen doctor