Medicaid in Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Medicaid in Texas - Essay Example While some states spend as much as 75 percent of every new tax dollar on Medicaid, in Texas the amount is just over 25 percent, still a substantial amount (Recap of 80th Texas Legislature). Budgetary concerns and federal mandates have forced the Texas legislature to successfully implement significant Medicaid reform in the last ten years. The overriding problem for Texas, and Medicaid's biggest impact, has been the escalating costs during the last ten years. Since 1998, the total Medicaid budget in Texas has nearly doubled, and the 80th legislature session in 2007 budgeted almost $20 billion dollars for the program for 2008 of which over $8 billion was from Texas state taxes (State & Federal Medicaid Spending in Texas; Recap of 80th Texas Legislature). Texas's biennial process, and their low level of per capita state taxes has presented Texas with significant financial challenges as they are forced to budget well in advance during uncertain economic times (Kaiser Commission 1). Affected by this uncertainty are the citizens in Texas where Medicaid, "provides health coverage for one out of every three children in Texas, pays for more than half of all births and covers two-thirds of all nursing home care" (State & Federal Medicaid Spending in Texas). The once simple program has expanded to become a complex institution w ith complicated eligibility requirements and federal guidelines. ... In an effort to bring more children under the Medicaid umbrella, the federal government enacted the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997 to cover children who lived in families that earned too much money to qualify for Medicaid assistance. By 2005, 72 percent of the non-elderly participants in Medicaid were children who were eligible for "a full range of health services including regular checkups, immunizations, prescription drugs, lab tests, X-rays, hospital visits and more" (State & Federal Medicaid Spending in Texas). In 2001, the 77th legislature further expanded access to the children's program by eliminating the "face-to-face interview requirements for application and recertification of children's Medicaid benefits in an effort to ensure that Texas Medicaid eligibility verification procedures will be no more difficult than those of the Children Health Insurance Program" (Stout 31). Today, children comprise the largest portion of aid recipients, but the majo rity of the costs are incurred by the elderly and nursing home care. This has prompted Texas to fully implement the SCHIP program and fundamentally change the way Texas finances their health care. Medicaid, and the SCHIP program, have helped move Texas from a system of public hospitals and county health support systems to a system of expanded public coverage (Kaiser Commission). In Texas more than 25 percent of the population is uninsured and their reliance on emergency room care and safety net providers has led to poorer health, higher cost of care, and an increase in insurance premiums in an effort to shift the cost of health care to insurance premium holders (Texas Health and Human Services Commission (1) 3). To alleviate these pressures, Texas has

Personal Development Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Personal Development Plan - Essay Example This personal development plan is intended to help me: To become more effective, confident and independent In identifying my strengths and weaknesses To improve my skills To develop a positive attitude towards learning SELF-ANALYSIS AND CRITICS From time to time I was provided with many different opportunities to develop my skills and abilities, which I did. If I compare my past and present self, I would definitely say that with the passage of time my performances, communication skills, research skills, and reading skills have greatly improved. Moreover, I can say that I have become a more professional individual than in the past. The key to my success has been teamwork and confidence. With both these factors on my side, I have a long way to go in the future. These skills have allowed me to be more friendly and interactive with others. With the radical improvement in my communication skills, I have been able to interact effectively with my group members and teachers during seminars a nd lectures. This communication skill has also helped me in dealing with different individuals throughout my educational career and has enabled me to share my views and opinions with others and to understand other’s perspective as well.   With continuous academic reading, I have also been able to improve my reading skills. In the past, I have some serious issues in reading but with a positive attitude to learn and gain more knowledge, I have to keep on reading articles, novels, newspapers, comic books, and researches and this has certainly helped me in improving my skills. Whenever I encountered a word that I was not aware of, I did not hesitate to ask others about it. This helped me a lot to improve my particular reading skills. The same I used to do with different concepts, I have never been afraid of asking from my colleagues or even my teachers. This has really helped me in making a better learner.