The New York Times /Texas Tribune (11/6, Ramshaw) reported, "Some Republican lawmakers -- still reveling in Tuesday's statewide election sweep -- are proposing an unprecedented solution to the state's estimated $25 billion budget shortfall: dropping out of the federal Medicaid program." According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research organization, "Texas could save $60 billion from 2013 to 2019 by opting out of Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program, dropping coverage for acute care but continuing to finance long-term care services." The Texas Health and Human Services Commission, "which has 3.6 million children, people with disabilities and impoverished Texans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, will release its own study on the effect of ending the state's participation in the federal match program at some point between now and January."