AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Top officials from state agencies have warned Texas lawmakers that the cost of caring for the state's disabled and poor children and elderly are growing faster than tax revenues.
Appearing before a House Appropriation Subcommittee on Monday, the state's Medicaid chief said the program will likely only achieve 88 percent of the savings lawmakers hoped for. Last year the Legislature balanced the budget by forecasting big savings and shorted the program by roughly $4.8 billion.
Officials with the Texas Department of Health and Human Services have predicted that lawmakers will need to come up with more than $10 billion to cover the current deficit and increases in the next budget.
That could create another crisis next year. Last year the Legislature cut $27 billion in services in the two-year budget.
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