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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, The State of Texas could produce greater health |
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outcomes for enrollees and better protect taxpayers through |
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Medicaid block grants; and |
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WHEREAS, States are often constrained in delivering adequate |
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health care to residents in need because of onerous federal |
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regulations; block grants, however, would enable states to design |
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health care programs that best serve their citizens and to better |
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handle fluctuations in the economy, population growth, and health |
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care costs; and |
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WHEREAS, According to the Texas Health and Human Services |
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Commission, the state would have saved $4 billion on health care in |
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2015 by using block grants instead of the present Medicaid model; |
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moreover, annual cost savings under a block grant program could |
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exceed $6 billion by 2023; and |
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WHEREAS, The current Medicaid program is not only |
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unsustainable but also less effective than a state-based system; as |
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the cost of the entitlement continues to rise and to strain state |
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budgets across the nation, the federal government should instead |
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empower states to address health care needs at the local level; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby urge the United States Congress to provide the Lone Star |
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State with Medicaid block grants and allow Texas to create its own |
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health care program for the poor; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |