Texas and Health Care Reform

From The Houston Chronicle

Here are the facts:

• • Families USA recently found that health insurance premiums for Texas families have increased 92 percent — more than 4.5 times faster than income.

• • The US Census Bureau reports that with 24.5 percent of our citizens without health insurance, Texas has the nation's highest rate of uninsured.

• • The American Medical Association ranks Texas 43rd in the number of doctors per capita and reports that more than half of Texas counties have an acute shortage of primary care physicians. This critical scarcity of physicians compelled lawmakers to raise taxes earlier this year to fund projects designed to attract physicians to rural areas.

• • Texas Medicare spending is growing 16 percent faster than the national average. In fact, 10 of the 15 health markets with the highest Medicare spending per enrollee are in states in which the medical and insurance industries successfully lobbied for severe limits on patient rights. Four of the nation's most expensive health markets are right here in Texas.

This is hardly a ringing endorsement for Texas as a model for the nation.

From Bay Area Houston

In 2003 the Republican controlled Texas house ushered in sweeping tort reform, limiting medical malpractice suits to $250,000. These limits were supported by the insurance industry, some of the medical community, and their front groups calling themselves “Texans” and “Citizens” against lawsuit abuse. As they are doing today with national health care reform, they promised lower health care costs, lower insurance rates, and expanded health care availability. Instead, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured in the nation and our cost of health care and insurance has skyrocketed out of control. Tort reform didn’t work in Texas. It won’t work on the national level either.

Rabid Republican and former Texas Congressman Dick Armey is now spearheading the 'tea-bagger' movement against health care reform. This is what we call 'privilege'.