Don't Mess with Texas!

Texans sure are proud of their state, but with Rick Perry putting it in the spotlight and many in depth articles being written about its policies lately, I can only hope that our country learns from their mistakes and doesn't mess with Texas and Perry. The Boston Globe had an interesting (but long, read here) article today on the state of medical coverage and care in Texas.  Almost 1 out of 3 working age adults (32%) in Texas have no health insurance, compared to 7% in Mass and 22% in the US.  In addition, 16.8% of children 18 and under have no insurance.  Overall, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country (24.6%), a number which has grown by 35% in the 11 year tenure of Rick Perry.

So what is Texas doing about all of this?  Cutting funding and getting fatter!  According to the Globe article, in the last legislative session that ended in May, the state cut two thirds of the funding for women's health clinics and underfunded Medicaid by almost $4 billion, in addition to cutting hospital reimbursements.  With Texas trending to providing less preventative care and service availability and also getting more and more obese each year, things do not look good.