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Many Texans I talk with are concerned about health insurance costs and tax dollars we spend on Medicaid and other programs for the poor. Yes, we are right to be concerned, but often we are misled into blaming federal programs or medical providers. Actually, a huge percentage of our tax dollars are wasted by state laws and policies we could fix here in Texas.
Texas taxpayers finance crucial health care services through at least seven different Texas-inflicted cost-shifting fees and hidden taxes totaling more than $40 billion each year. But does our current investment, averaging $4,750 per Texas household each year, give us better health? No. Texas still has the most uninsured in the nation and some of the worst health outcomes.
Tax dollars we contribute are absorbed by a fragmented, overly complex, wasteful "non-system" because some would rather grandstand and complain than actually make health care work well for us. As faithful taxpayers, we Texans should find this unacceptable. Let's take action against the waste and mismanagement in our current state system and develop a more rational, streamlined process.
