Contact: Keir Murray | [email protected] | 713-553-8348
September 15, 2020
Chen Button Tries To Rewrite History On Medicaid Expansion
Dallas County Republican now claims to support legislation she repeatedly voted against.
Austin, TX – Six-term Texas House Member Angie Chen Button (R-Garland) recently told the Dallas Morning News she supports Medicaid expansion “with no strings attached.” Her House voting record, however, tells a different story.
Chen Button repeatedly cast votes against Medicaid expansion, over multiple sessions of the Texas Legislature.
- In 2019, Chen Button voted against creating a waiver to allow Medicaid expansion federal matching funding.
- In 2017, Chen Button voted against allowing Texas to access billions of dollars in Medicaid funding.
- In 2015, Chen Button voted against Medicaid payments to hospitals.
“Rep. Chen Button, who is locked in a battle for her political life, is now saying the right thing on Medicaid expansion,” said HDCC spokesperson Keir Murray. “But session after session, when given the opportunity to claim our fair share of federal dollars and deliver health coverage to more than a million uninsured Texans, she voted no. Campaign promises are one thing, but Rep. Chen Button’s voting record speaks for itself.”
Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents, both in raw numbers and as a percentage of its population. According to the Texas Medical Association, nearly one in five of Texans lack health coverage, twice the national average. More than five million residents, including 29% of Texans under age 65, are uninsured. The COVID-19 crisis resulted in an additional 659,000 Texans who had healthcare coverage, losing it.
Texas is now one of just 12 states not to have expanded Medicaid. Expanding Medicaid would make more than 1.5 million uninsured Texans eligible for health coverage, and return more than nine federal dollars to Texas for every state dollar spent.
Chen Button, who narrowly won re-election in 2018, is being challenged by Democrat Brandy Chambers, who has championed full Medicaid expansion as a top legislative priority.
The Texas HDCC leads the effort to win control of the Texas House by flipping seats from red to blue, while protecting incumbent Members.
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