Low-income mothers in Texas won some health gains during this past legislative session, primarily through the expansion of postpartum Medicaid benefits, but overall state lawmakers kept their eyes and dollars focused on law tweaks and boosting dollars to existing health care programs instead of launching sweeping new initiatives.
For the most part this legislative session, state lawmakers stuck close to the familiar, leaving bolder measures on substance abuse and mental health treatment by the wayside. There was no expansion of eligibility for medical marijuana. The talk of decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips was just that. A Republican lawmaker’s bill to help address the mental health workforce shortage was left to die in committee. And of course, no bill was moved forward to remove the largest barrier for uninsured people in Texas: the expansion of Medicaid health coverage.
The state is one of 10 that have refused to expand Medicaid coverage to its residents after lawmakers in North Carolina reached a deal this year on expansion. It is a measure that both Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick have long opposed despite some 75% of Texans supporting expansion in some form.