Let’s take state cuts to health services off the table!

We’re in the middle of a pandemic. And families across the state are losing their health insurance, worrying about paying their rent, dealing with closed schools, facing the mental health toll of the pandemic, and grappling with numerous other challenges.

Yet the Governor, Lt. Governor, and the Legislature are considering cutting state health services and other support for families, both this year and during the next legislative session.

We need to tell them to take these proposed cuts off the table!

One of the proposed cuts would make it harder for parents to sign their children up for Medicaid insurance or CHIP. It would also make it harder for women to sign up for Healthy Texas Women or sign up for Medicaid while they’re pregnant. Specifically, the proposal would delay or reduce the hiring of over 700 eligibility and enrollment employees at the state’s Health and Human Services (HSHC) agency. HHSC has acknowledged that the proposal would lead to delays in applications for Medicaid insurance and other programs, potentially putting the state out of compliance with federal requirements. Before the pandemic hit, Texas was already facing significant delays in processing applications and enrolling Texans in these programs, a result of high staff turnover stemming from underfunding. The proposed cuts would make things even worse.

State leaders are also considering cuts to women’s health, Early Childhood Intervention for toddlers with disabilities, and other critical services.

Given the health challenges that Texas faced even before the pandemic, and the additional challenges during the pandemic, we believe that state leaders should fully fund health services for Texans now and during the next legislative session.

Instead of making cuts, state leaders should use the other tools they have for dealing with the state’s revenue shortfall. They should accept billions of dollars in available federal Medicaid expansion funding, push Congress to provide additional Medicaid funding to states as part of a pandemic relief package, use the Rainy Day Fund, and consider other ways to bring in more state revenue.

Thank you for raising your voice!