As contentious a political football as federal health care legislation has become, there's evidence that so-called "Obamacare" may in fact provide a needed benefit to residents of the Lone Star State. One that will come at a huge financial cost, critics argue.
According to a new study by the RAND Corporation, should the health care laws come into full effect, some 5 million Texans are projected to get new health insurance coverage. And as all those residents are insured, the resulting increase in state health care spending could rise as much as 10 percent.
Those increases, the study suggests, would largely be the result in a jump in spending connected to rising Medicaid costs. Those recipients of new health care coverage would be covered by a mixture of Medicaid and a state health insurance exchange, though plans for said exchange are severely bogged down in the Legislature at present.
The study covered five states and was sponsored by the Council of State Governments.
Other findings, as reported by the Texas Tribune:
