The TIMES had this opening salvo on September 4, 2011: “During his 11 years as governor of Texas, Mr. Perry has shown a shocking lack of concern for low- and moderate-income Texans who can’t afford health insurance or who have to struggle to keep it. His bromides about less government, more free-market and more self-reliance have neither held down costs nor made Texans healthier.” (2)

Perry defender FORBES replied two days later with this: “If you’re most concerned about runaway government spending, Perry is the clear winner. If the rising cost of health insurance is your primary worry, Perry wins there too. On the other hand, if universal coverage is your bailiwick, Romney comes out far ahead. If that sounds like the basic ideological divide in health policy, you’re not far from the truth.”(3)

The Wall Street Journal changed the subject the same day ending its editorial on the subject this way: “The Texas health-care record is not perfect, and in particular its low Medicaid payment rates are straining providers. But the point will soon be moot as Washington moves to run everything via ObamaCare. The chance to increase coverage in Texas and everywhere else through market-based reforms would be a good problem to have.”(4)

Kaiser Health News decided to lean on the facts citing recent (and prior) Gallup Poll results with this comment: “New survey data from Gallup and Healthways shows 27.2 percent of Texans reported being uninsured in the first half of 2011 — the highest percentage of any state in the U.S.  But that’s nothing new for the Lone Star State, which has had this distinction since Gallup and Healthways first began tracking uninsured rates in 2008.”(5)

While Gallup laid out the comparison starkly: “Texas residents continue to be the most likely in the United States to lack health coverage, with 27.2% reporting being uninsured in the first half of 2011. At the other end of the spectrum is Massachusetts, where health insurance is required and 5.3% of residents lack coverage. These two states have represented the upper and lower bounds of uninsured rates since Gallup and Healthways started tracking coverage in 2008.”(6)

Bottom line is, America’s future (policy wise) and health care’s future (policy wise) are one and the same. Jobs, security, family life, competitiveness, productivity, bankrupcy, immigration, business climate, taxation, independence, personal responsibility, safety nets, income distribution, opportunity – one way or another, all tie back to how we address health care quality, efficiency and coverage.

For HealthCommentary, I’m Mike Magee

5. Gallup Poll: Texas and Mass. Still at Health Coverage Extremes In The US. Sept.6, 2011.http://www.gallup.com/poll/149321/Texas-Mass-Health-Coverage-Extremes.aspx

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