Gov. Rick Perry

Gov. Rick Perry

AUSTIN, Texas, May 26 (Reuters) - The Republican-majority Texas House and Senate on Sunday sent Governor Rick Perry a proposal to prevent the state from expanding its Medicaid program as outlined by President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. [...] The proposal, an amendment to a Medicaid-related bill, says state health officials "may only provide medical assistance to a person who would have been otherwise eligible for medical assistance or for whom federal matching funds were available under the eligibility criteria for medical assistance in effect on December 31, 2013."

It's not enough just to refuse federal health care funds to expand Medicaid. Not in Texas. The legislature there has passed a bill the state from taking the funds. Gov. Rick Perry is expected to sign the proposal.There are approximately 1.5 million low-income Texans who are uninsured and would have qualified to receive Medicaid under the terms of the expansion. That means that 1.5 million Texans will still be forced to use the emergency room—the least efficient and most expensive option available—for their primary means of health care. It also comes on top of $700 million in cuts the state has made to hospitals because of a budget shortfall.