AUSTIN –State Senator Donna Campbell, an emergency room physician who represents Senate District 25, was one of eight of female leaders invited by President Trump to participate in a special panel Wednesday at the White House focused on health care reforms.
“I was impressed by the President’s genuine concern for the health care of Americans and for his desire to improve access to quality health care in our country,” Senator Campbell said after an hour-long panel in the Roosevelt Room with other Texans, including State Senator Dawn Buckingham.
Senator Campbell said she used the meeting as an opportunity to promote reforms to Medicaid including block grants, which would give states greater control over rising health care costs that take up almost 40% of the Texas budget.
“We need to redesign Medicaid to allow the states to address the health care needs of our citizens. Without this flexibility, we are pouring money into a broken system that does not and cannot deliver quality care,” said Senator Campbell. “In Texas, growing Medicaid costs are already beginning to threaten funding for other essential functions of government including education and public safety.”
Six out of ten doctors are restricting or not taking any new Medicaid patients as lower reimbursement rates make it cost-prohibitive. At the same time, studies show Medicaid patients are overusing emergency rooms for non-emergencies and will continue to do so as long as they have no equity in the system.
“I appreciate how receptive the Trump Administration has been to giving the states more control over their own destiny and helping us find our own health care solutions. This is critical if we are going to increase access to quality care and drive down health care costs for everyone,” Senator Campbell stated.
A vocal critic of Obamacare since she was elected to the Texas Senate, Dr. Donna Campbell has served as a member of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and currently serves as the Chair of the Veteran Affairs and Border Security Committee.