AUSTIN — Lieutenant governor hopeful Mike Collier announced his health care reform plan Tuesday, which aims to reduce costs and increase access to health care in Texas.

“Achieving these goals will not be easy,” Collier said in a statement. “But it’s time to get cracking. Doing nothing — the only skill our current governor and lieutenant governor seem to possess — is no longer acceptable.”

Colliers faces incumbent GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in November’s general election. Patrick has been a fierce opponent of the Affordable Care Act and any move to expand Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled, to include the working poor.

Collier said Texas’ decision not to pay for health care costs for Texans who cannot afford health insurance is “unbelievably stupid,” and said that using federal dollars to close the coverage gap will bring Texas an estimated $9 billion per year in federal dollars and create as many as 250,000 jobs.

Collier said his plan also includes deploying state money to encourage Texans to buy insurance, which he said will drive down the cost of health care.

Additionally, Collier emphasized price transparency and a “Patient Financial Bill of Rights,” which would require insurance companies to provide health care prices in advance, show the availability of less expensive drugs and procedures, and itemize bills “in plain language,” among other requirements.

“One of the great dissatisfactions of Texas public policy is that the consumer almost always comes last,” Collier said. “A win-lose posture is never as good as win-win, which is precisely what our Patient Financial Bill of Rights should aim to achieve.”

Collier also outlined plans to provide incentives for research and development, such as technology incubators at public universities.
Collier said “aggressively pursuing” his reforms would drive down costs by 15 percent, allowing Texas to invest in women’s and children’s health as well as mental health services.

“Texans are worried, angry, and confused about health care, and it’s high time Texas political leaders roll up their sleeves and attack the problem,” Collier said. “Dramatic growth in the cost of health care is ruining peoples’ lives. We simply cannot wait for Washington. We are in a state of emergency, and we must act.”