health+care


 * Health Care**

**From the Texas Democratic Party Platform**

Texas Democrats believe health care is a right for all people, not a privilege reserved for those able to pay for it. Every family deserves access to health care they can count on and a health care system that puts our health security first. Texas Democrats support comprehensive reform to provide guaranteed access to affordable health care for all Texans and Texas small businesses.

The current American health care system is failing the American people, and in Texas, it is failing even worse than in the rest of the country. Texas has the highest rate of uninsured among all 50 states, with over 1.4 million Texas children without insurance. Even those fortunate enough to have good insurance spend an inordinate amount to pay for it. The result: Americans pay more for health care than citizens of any other industrialized country. Fewer Texans are receiving health insurance through their employers, and those who do receive employer-provided health plans are paying higher out-of-pocket expenses for health care. Texas Democrats believe the state must make use of all opportunities to maximize federal and state dollars that can be used to fund health care costs. Small businesses and the people who work in them should have access to affordable and dependable health coverage, and Texans with chronic illnesses should have access to coverage through the high risk pool. Medical decisions regarding all effective treatment options should be made by medical doctors in consultation with their patients, not insurance company accountants or government bureaucrats.


 * Protecting Medicare and Medicaid**

Texas Democrats support programs, including Medicare and Medicaid that maintain the health care safety net for vulnerable Texans. Even though the 2005 Texas Legislature restored some of the devastating cuts made to the Medicaid program in 2003, the Adult Medically Needy Program was not restored, leaving patients with high medical bills ineligible to receive Medicaid assistance. We support full restoration of Medicaid cuts made in 2003 with funding allocations for population and caseload growth, and re-establishing local and state partnerships to maximize funds for Medicaid programs that assure coverage to low-income Texans. Recognizing that the federal block granting of Medicaid dollars would be based upon historical state spending, Texas Democrats do not support federal block grant funding for Medicaid.


 * Prescription Drugs**

The Republican Medicare prescription drug program has proven to be a tragic failure that caused much confusion among the elderly, individuals with disabilities, and pharmacists who have faced a maze of poorly designed regulations, bureaucracy and red tape. This is one more example of the Republicans literally allowing big businesses to write the laws that govern them for their advantage - in this case as the drug companies and insurance companies – with little or no regard for the interests and practical impact of the law on of individuals and taxpayers. Democrats support reforming Medicare to provide a prescription drug benefit in a simple and easily understood system. We support a program that will ensure consumers receive the best prices possible by allowing for negotiated drug costs.


 * Children’s Health Insurance**

Texas Democrats proposed, fought for, and passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) that provided health coverage to over 500,000 Texas children in working families until the Republicans gained control of the Legislature in 2003. Since then, the number of children receiving health care through CHIP has dropped by more than 213,000, or over 40%. While other states were taking steps to insure more of their children, Texas, under the Republicans, passed laws and developed policies that make enrollment in the program more difficult. In addition to erecting barriers to enrollment, virtually all outreach programs were dismantled, and the processing of CHIP applications became the first casualty of the massive private-sector outsourcing contract with Bermuda-based Accenture.

Democrats support full utilization of all federal funds that have been set aside specifically to improve the health of Texas children, and we oppose the redistribution of those funds for the benefit of children in other states. Unless punitive Republican policies are reversed and private contractors are held accountable, the number of Texas children receiving CHIP coverage will likely continue to decline and the federal dollars reserved for Texas children will continue to be spent to cover children in other states. Texas Democrats support full restoration of the original CHIP program and policies, reinstatement of the simplified application process, and a 12 month period of continuous health coverage. We support a moratorium on removing any children from CHIP rolls until the state contractor and enrollment broker have proven that problems have been resolved and CHIP caseload trends show stability.

**Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services**

Democrats support efforts to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness and drug dependent individuals. Recognizing that mental illness is treatable, as is substance abuse, Democrats support ways to increase access to mental health and substance abuse services, while protecting and strengthening the state’s public mental health system. Full mental health parity in the private market would help eliminate stigma around mental illness and substance abuse, and make it more likely that individuals suffering would seek treatment and proper maintenance of their mental health. More “reality-based” substance abuse education in schools should be encouraged.

**HIV, Hepatitis C, and STDs Education and Services**

Texas Democrats support increased education initiatives and services to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic and Hepatitis C, including increased access to treatment and therapy that improves quality of life and encourages return to the workforce. County health officials should have the option of operating any program proven to prevent communicable diseases.


 * Stem Cell Research**

Stem cell research should not be held hostage to politics that limits the potential for conquering major illnesses through stem cell research. Texas has world-class research facilities that cannot attract world-class talent and funding until we take stem cell research out of politics and put it into the labs where research could lead to life-saving therapies. Texas Democrats strongly and unconditionally support research into stem cell therapies and state funding of research into stem cell therapies at state public universities. Curing disease is the right thing to do, and stem cell lines should be expanded without increasing or encouraging any high risk procedures.