85R8700 RMA-D     By: Lozano H.C.R. No. 58       CONCURRENT RESOLUTION          WHEREAS, The State of Texas could produce greater health   outcomes for enrollees and better protect taxpayers through   Medicaid block grants; and          WHEREAS, States are often constrained in delivering adequate   health care to residents in need because of onerous federal   regulations; block grants, however, would enable states to design   health care programs that best serve their citizens and to better   handle fluctuations in the economy, population growth, and health   care costs; and          WHEREAS, According to the Texas Health and Human Services   Commission, the state would have saved $4 billion on health care in   2015 by using block grants instead of the present Medicaid model;   moreover, annual cost savings under a block grant program could   exceed $6 billion by 2023; and          WHEREAS, The current Medicaid program is not only   unsustainable but also less effective than a state-based system; as   the cost of the entitlement continues to rise and to strain state   budgets across the nation, the federal government should instead   empower states to address health care needs at the local level; now,   therefore, be it          RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas   hereby urge the United States Congress to provide the Lone Star   State with Medicaid block grants and allow Texas to create its own   health care program for the poor; and, be it further          RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official   copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to   the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of   Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the   members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that   this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a   memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.