Republican-controlled Texas may be rejecting as much of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul as possible, but they agree on the need to curtail rapidly rising costs that are consuming more of the state's budget.
Texas' constitutional requirement to balance the budget and the Republican promise not to raise taxes have combined over the last three years to drive lawmakers to adopt many policies similar to Obama's signature health care law, the Affordable Care Act. But it's more a case of Republicans working in parallel, rather than in partnership with Washington.
The Texas Hospital Association, though, say costs will only come down once everyone has health insurance. Too often the uninsured rely on expensive emergency room visits. The group disagreed with the Legislature's decision not to expand Medicaid.
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