Texas, first under then-governor Rick Perry, and now under Governor Greg Abbott, opposes expanding Medicaid coverage. Wrote about this yesterday with regard to Ray Reynold's opinion on this. Not only is it shockingly heartless not to provide for those who are poor and uninsured, but the state of Texas doesn't step up to cover the pool. What the federal government did in 2012 was offer a program called a "1115 waiver" to reimburse Texas providers for the care they provide people who can't afford health insurance. But, and this is a big but, that was only intended to be a transitional program while the states stepped up to expand Medicaid  and CHIP programs. And Texas hasn't. In April, the feds called the Texas health agency to tie the failure to expand Medicaid to a decision as to whether to extend the 1115 waiver. 

From the Texas Tribune

 in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the Medicaid expansion optional, and Texas leaders — who believe Medicaid is too broken to be expanded — soon announced they would not participate. That has left advocates for the uninsured wondering what Texas leaders intend to do once the waiver expires in 2016. The state must negotiate a renewal by Sept. 30.

"If you don’t ever move to coverage, where are you going to get the money from?" asked Ken Janda, president and CEO of Community Health Choice, a Houston-based health plan. "Are you going to just continue to ask the feds for money forever? That wasn’t the intent."

Glen Rose Medical Center had applied for the 1115 waiver and, according to the minutes from April 2014, received it last year. In fact, I believe that the 1115 waiver pays for the Moncrief Cancer Institute program.  This was Dr Keigh Argenbright at the Somervell County Commissioners Court meeting in January 2015

What hypocrites in our state government!!! Just fine for individual hospitals to apply for federal money in order to get additional revenus to treat those less fortunate in the community, as long as Texas state officials can make a big show of not getting federal money themselves. This is while NOT doing anything at the Texas Legislature level to help out.