Supporters of Texas expanding access to Medicaid, among them representatives of Planned Parenthood, marched up Congress Avenue Tuesday to the Capitol steps.
They’re calling on Texas lawmakers to accept Federal money as part of the Affordable Care Act to get healthcare to more than a million Texans who otherwise would not have it.
Mimi Garcia, the Organizing Director of Texas Well and Healthy, says the idea is to help people stay healthy before it becomes a bigger burden on everyone.
“Instead of being able to get preventive care that can keep them healthy or see a doctor when they get sick, they end up having to wait until things get really bad and end up in our emergency rooms and it ends up being the most expensive care out there,” Garcia said.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s position is more in line with majority Republican Texas lawmakers and Governor Perry, who call Medicaid a broken system that should be overhauled instead of expanded.
