Children who appear to be Medicaid eligible may actually qualify for CHIP, but onerous, outdated, and intrusive Medicaid enrollment process deters thousands of families from completing the process. Texas parents support Medicaid as a means to insure their children. Parents do not avail themselves of Medicaid coverage because the enrollment process is cumbersome, time consuming, and humiliating. The Medicaid application process is complex and difficult, requiring trips to Department of Human Services offices as well as confusing and inconsistent documentation requirements. The application process can be intrusive and discouraging.
Medicaid spending is out of control.
Texas' Medicaid medical costs are less than that experienced by comparable programs, such as ERS and TRS, as well as that of commercial health plans. No one argues that health care plans across the country are not experiencing dramatic increases in costs. However, a comparative analysis of health care costs in Medicaid, Employee Retirement System, Teacher Retirement System, and commercial health plans shows that Medicaid performs remarkably well and in many cases better than other programs. According to Hewitt Associates, a national firm specializing in health care analysis, commercial health plan premiums are expected to jump 10 percent to 13 percent in 2001. Over the next 10 years, the Urban Institute and the Congressional Budget Office project annual increases in Medicaid of 8.5 percent to 10 percent respectively.