Texas State Health Plan: 1993-94 Page: 2
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(SHPDA) as specified in the Act. Bureau staff
are responsible for conducting research and
developing plan issues and recommendations to be
considered by the SHCC. Following a period of
public comment and a review by the Texas Health
and Human Services Commission, the plan, as
adopted by the SHCC, is forwarded to the
governor for approval.
State agencies affected by recommendations in the
plan are required to determine the costs of
implementing these recommendations and to
report whether these costs are included in the
agencies' biennial appropriations request. The
SHPDA is required to provide the Legislative
Budget Board and the Governor's Office of
Budget and Planning a summary of these cost
reports by November 1 of even-numbered years.
The SHCC continues to coordinate the
development and implementation of the State
Health Plan with other health and health-related
agencies, boards, associations, advocacy groups
and individuals. This is done by assuring that
these groups are notified of and encouraged to
attend all meetings of the SHCC, to include
SHCC members in their planning activities as
appropriate, and by reviewing the plans of groups
such as the Texas Cancer Council and the
Diabetes Council.
The Texas Health Policy Task Force
A national consensus on the need to reform
America's health care system is growing, and the
issue achieved prominence in the 1992 presidential
campaign. Given the federal government's major
role in health care financing, many contend that a
federal solution will ultimately be required to
resolve the crisis in access to and costs of health
care. In the absence of such action, some states
have forged ahead with proposals and experiments
ranging from Oregon's plan to greatly expand
Medicaid eligibility while rationing services, to
Massachusetts' plan to tax businesses which do
not provide health insurance ("pay or play"
approach). Already in 1992, three states have
passed major health care reform legislation
designed to provide basic health services to all
residents, including the establishment of a state-
operated "Health Right" insurance plan in
Minnesota.
The growing crisis in health care financing and
access prompted Texas' governor to appoint an
interim Texas Health Policy Task Force to"develop a plan designed to make excellent
affordable health care available to all Texans."
The Task Force Report, developed contempor-
aneously with this plan and scheduled to be
delivered to the governor at the same time
(October 1992), was charged to address the issues
of health care financing, cost containment, access
to care and the availability of essential health care
services. In order to coordinate planning efforts,
the SHCC has chosen to focus on the need for and
importance of primary and preventive health care
services as an integral part of any proposal to
improve health care financing and service delivery
in Texas.
PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT IN DEVELOPING
THE STATE HEALTH PLAN
The SHCC historically has sought and received
regional input into its plans during the public
review and comment period, climaxed by a
statewide public hearing. For the 1993-94 plan,
the SHCC modified this approach by asking
consumers and providers from across the state to
participate in issues development for the state
health plan. With SHCC members as moderators,
11 regional "focus meetings" were conducted
throughout the state to solicit community input on
local health problems and recommended corrective
solutions. About 400 persons attended the
meetings and presented verbal comments on site,
or submitted written comments during the ensuing
weeks.
Although the overall theme of the focus group
meetings was preventive and primary health care,
issues ranged from health insurance to medical
transportation. The results of these discussions
were invaluable in developing health issues and
recommendations. The following sections provide
summaries of the discussions at the focus
meetings.
ARLINGTON January 21, 1992
Discussions at the Arlington focus meeting
centered on health insurance, problems of the
health care delivery system, and health care
providers. Medical insurance issues included lack
of coverage for more than three million Texans,2
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Texas. Statewide Health Coordinating Council. Texas State Health Plan: 1993-94, report, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1586367/m1/20/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.