Progress Texas, in coordination with Texas Well & Healthy, has compiled a list of major organizations, chambers of commerce, and local and county governments that have stated their support for expanding Medicaid in Texas. We will update the list as we discover, identify, and can properly cite additional existing supporters - and as more and more groups announce their support in the coming weeks and months.

Check out the full list of groups that support Medicaid expansion here.

UPDATE (4/14/13): Since our latest update on 3/8/13, the list has grown to more than 80. Today's update is important because this Tuesday, the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Budget Transparency & Reform will hear important legislation regarding the potential for expanding Medicaid. Among the bills will be HB 3376 by Rep. Sylvester Turner, about Medicaid expansion, and HB 3791 by Rep. Bill Zerwas, about finding a "Texas solution" for Medicaid expansion. We will be joining many other groups in closely following the hearing as we follow the fight for Medicaid expansion in Texas.

Over the last month, several Chambers of Commerce have announced their support for Medicaid expansion. Below is an update of several who have worked with the Texas Well & Healthy coalition and announced their support for Medicaid expansion:

• Dallas Black Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce
• Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• West San Antonio Chamber of Commerce
   
• Community Action Network - the video of the resolution being adopted can be found here, at the 33:30 mark
• Catholic Health Association of Texas
• One Voice Texas
• Texas Association of Community Health Centers
• United Ways of Texas

We will continue to update this page - which will include bumping the page atop our blog and noting the update date - as more and more groups e-mail us privately, and with any more major additions or news about Medicaid expansion in Texas. Our practice will be to simply create a line-dash across the page so updates appear in reverse order. The latest update will appear just below the introductory paragraph and link to the list without a line-dash. We recommend you bookmark this page: www.ProgressTexas.org/MedicaidExpansion.

UPDATE (3/8/13): Since our original post on 2/25/13, the list has grown to more than 70. In the last few days we've received e-mails that the Irving Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Lubbock Chamber of Commerce have announced support for the expansion of Medicaid. We also added lots of new groups supporting Medicaid expansion just before the March 5th Medicaid rally, too - both from attendees coming to the rally, and from reading local coverage in the news. The list continues to grow as we learn of more organizations coming out in support for Medicaid expansion.

A couple of quick notes:

1. If you would like your organization to be added to the list, please e-mail info@ProgressTexas.org with your organization's name, point-of-contact, and a statement - either in an e-mail or a link to a statement on your website.
    
2. If you find another organization that could be added to this list, please e-mail info@ProgressTexas.org with a link to the news organization, or the group's own website, that shows the support.
    
3. If you want to learn more about Medicaid expansion, here are some great resources:

• If you're a small business owner or entrepreneur - register for the March 12 or March 15 Texas Well & Healthy webinar on how health care reform can impact your bottom line.
• If you want to contact your county's decision makers about Medicaid expansion, you can download this Texas Well & Healthy toolkit.
• If you want to learn all about the details on Medicaid expansion, you can pour into this excellent primer from CPPP: "Medicaid Expansion Resource Guide: All the Latest on the Costs and Benefits for Texas."
   

February 25, 2013 - Original Post

Progress Texas released the following press statement about the expansive list:

Progress Texas released a list of over 50 chambers of commerce, local governments, trade associations and civic groups from across Texas that have come out in support of Medicaid expansion in Texas in recent months. Progress Texas researched and compiled the list, with sources, and will continue to update the list in the coming weeks and months as more and more groups come out in support of the popular policy.                              

“Diverse groups from all across Texas support accepting federal funds to insure more Texans through Medicaid,” said Laura Guerra-Cardus, the Texas Associate Director of the Children’s Defense Fund. “Hard-working families need the security of quality health coverage to get the care they need, when they need it, without facing huge medical bills.”

The full list of supporters for Medicaid expansion can be found here: bit.ly/MedicaidSupport

"Accepting the federal dollars that are already available to cover more Texans helps our Texas hospitals have more funds for providing care and save on E.R. costs related to caring for the uninsured,” said Eileen Garcia with Texans Care for Children. “This is a choice that states like Florida and Arizona have already made – to be smart with the health dollars we have, create jobs and bring resources that our local health care systems need to help more people be well and healthy."

Health care groups and coalitions in Texas – including Texas Well & Healthy, Children’s Defense Fund, Texans Care for Children, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, and Cover Texas Now – hope the growing momentum for expanding Medicaid leads to a strong turnout for their “Medicaid Matters” rally at the Texas State Capitol in Austin on Tuesday, March 5^th.

“Both organizations and state legislators would do well to get on the right side of history and stand up in support of Medicaid expansion in Texas,” said Phillip Martin, Political Director for Progress Texas.

RESOURCES:

1.      List of supporters for Medicaid expansion: bit.ly/MedicaidSupport
2.      Event details for the March 5^th rally: http://texaswellandhealthy.org/march-5/

NOTE: A number of groups recently contacted Progress Texas to let us know they support Medicaid expansion, and will be releasing statements to that effect in the coming days and weeks. Those groups include:

• Legacy Community Health Services - who e-mailed us this statement:

Medicaid and CHIP are vital to the health and well-being of the state’s poor and low-income families as well as the economic vitality of the state and local governments. Federal healthcare reform provides Texas the opportunity to expand its Medicaid program to cover Texans earning less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Legacy Community Health Services supports the expansion of the Texas Medicaid program to cover low-income Texans.

• Austin Health Care for All Texas
• CitySquare
• Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services
• Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce - expressing conditioanl support
• Gateway to Care
• Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Hope Family Health Center
• National Association of Social Workers/Texas Chapter
• Proyecto Azteca
• Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Chamber