The first two bills filed in the Texas House for the 90th Legislative Session are both Obamacare Medicaid expansion bills.
On November 9th, the opening day of pre-filing for the upcoming 90th Legislature, Rep. John Bucy (D-Austin)1 filed HB 1012 and HB 102.3 Both bills would require medicaid coverage for adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. HB 102 would take effect September 1, 2027, as ordinary law. HB 101 would take effect January 1st, 2028 only if voters first approve a constitutional amendment.
The federal government would pay 90 percent of costs for the expansion group. Texas would pay 10 percent. Costs4 to Texas taxpayers could run as high as $1.3 billion to $2 billion annually over the next decade, if not more, depending on adoption and inflation of medical costs. There’s no official fiscal note for these bills as of yet, and won’t be available until after session begins. Neither bill adds state-level work requirements or cost-sharing beyond what federal law already requires.
Bucy has attempted this before, and got nowhere. In the 89th regular session he filed basically the same pair: HB 197 (tied to a constitutional amendment)5 and HB 262 (straight statutory expansion),6 plus the companion HJR 21 for the constitutional amendment. Both bills went to House Appropriations in late February 2025 and died there without a hearing. He also tried a floor amendment on the budget; it failed 63-85. Several other identical or near-identical bills from other members also failed to see the light of day. Under a Republican House, the idea never left committee.
But now, however, Democrats will control the Texas House for the first time in more than twenty years, and governor-elect Gina Hinojosa7 has already said she supports expansion.8 So the first thing the new majority put on paper was an expansion of one of the biggest, taxpayer-funded government health-care programs in the state.
Texas has turned this expansion down for years. Leading the new session with these bills is an early indication of where the new House democrat majority likely wants to spend its political capital. Taxpayers who have been seeking property-tax relief, spending restraint, and lower costs of living could be sorely disappointed in the coming months.
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- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/legislators/john-bucy-iii/2025-index ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=90R&Bill=HB101 ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=90R&Bill=HB102 ↩︎
- https://paragoninstitute.org/medicaid/overview-of-health-insurance-coverage-in-texas-testimony-of-brian-c-blase/ ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB197 ↩︎
- https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB262 ↩︎
- https://index.texastaxpayers.com/legislators/gina-hinojosa/2025-index ↩︎
- https://www.kera.org/2026/11/09/gov-elect-hinojosa-wants-to-expand-medicaid-in-texas-an-executive-order-wont-make-that-happen/ ↩︎
