Children's hospitals in Texas ask for more Medicaid funding - KSWO, Lawton, OK- Wichita Falls, TX: News, Weather, Sports. ABC, 24/7, Telemundo -

Children's hospitals in Texas ask for more Medicaid funding

Texas - The number of children on Medicaid in Texas is increasing at an alarming rate

2.7 million kids are currently being served.

As a result, the Children's Hospital Association of Texas, which is made up of eight hospitals, is asking legislators to increase funding for health care.

They provide specialized care for the state's most vulnerable, sick and injured children.

More than half of those children are covered by Medicaid.

The association says if state funding for children's Medicaid does not keep up with the costs necessary to serve the growing population, children's hospitals will struggle to provide the same range of services.

They recommend improving Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Right now at the capitol, Republicans and Democrats are still fighting over whether a Medicaid expansion in Texas would be beneficial.

But even if an expansion plan is made, it would still have to survive a veto by Governor Rick Perry.

Payments to children's hospitals were reduced by more than $100 million for the 2012-13 biennium, which included cuts to outpatient specialty clinics and emergency departments.