A Legislative Briefing: The Future of Healthcare

Description

Representatives Garnet Coleman and John Zerwas each present their views on the state of health care in Texas and the challenges in the future.

Representative Coleman's work in the legislature has been instrumental to expanding access to health care for Texans. Representative Coleman authored and passed legislation that will allow rural hospitals to directly hire doctors. This legislation will help to bring quality physicians into the community, save physicians the cost of opening a practice, and increase access to quality care for the Texans who live in rural communities. Representative Coleman was one of the original authors of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in Texas, a program that makes health insurance available to more than 500,000 children from working families. He helped simplify access to Medicaid for more than 600,000 Texas children, and worked to secure an increase of $161.5 million for at-risk child care services.

Representative Zerwas has worked to increase transparency for health consumers and sought to save lives by updating organ donation laws. In June 2011, Dr. Zerwas passed legislation designed to save Texas more than $400 million over the 2012-2013 biennium by making Medicaid more cost-effective and expanding Medicaid managed care. The measure also allows doctors to partner with hospitals and other health care groups to reach better outcomes. Representative Zerwas has earned numerous accolades for his dedication to public service including being named one of the "Ten Best Legislators" by Texas Monthly for his work during the 81st and 82nd legislative sessions