Health Issues

Healthy Texas Families

In 2001, under Senator Ellis leadership as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, the legislature made record investments in the health of Texas families. The budget increased funding for health and human services by $5.1 billion --five times the new money allocated by the last legislature. The new funds will bring the promise of quality health care to 600,000 children now eligible for Medicaid who are not currently being served. The budget simplifies Medicaid eligibility by eliminating unnecessary and burdensome face-to-face interviews and allow families to apply through the mail or over the telephone, as with other insurance programs such as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Ellis budget also allocates $197 million to increase reimbursement rates for doctors, dentists and hospitals, to ensure health care providers can keep open their doors; provides $63 million to maintain current services at Mental Health & Mental Retardation state schools, hospitals and community centers and for non-Medicaid elder care services at the Department of Human Services (DHS); provides $1.025 billion for the Children's Health Insurance Program to ensure over 490,000 Texas children have access to quality, affordable health insurance, and $104 million to improve care in state schools and nursing homes.

Health Care for Needy Families

In 2001, Senator Ellis led the effort to provide historic investments in health care for Texas families. As Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Ellis secured an additional $5.1 billion for vital Health and Human Services programs such as Medicaid, CHIP, Mental Health and Mental Retardation services, and aid to senior citizens. In 1993, Senator Ellis passed legislation requiring private nonprofit hospitals -- which receive significant tax breaks -- to provide some level of health care to uninsured patients. As a result of Senator Ellis' law, between 1992 and 1996 the amount of charity care provided by Texas' 146 nonprofit hospitals increased 72%, representing $672.6 million in health care services for needy families.

Promoting Healthy Families

In 1997, legislation by Senator Ellis required health plans and HMOs to provide insurance coverage for serious mental illness. Under the legislation, health insurance companies must provide 60 outpatient and 45 inpatient visits for Texans with serious mental illness such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Also in 1997, Senator Ellis passed legislation requiring HMOs and managed care entities to provide prostate cancer screenings annually for men over 50 and those over 40 at risk of contracting the disease.