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A day after it was revealed that top aides to Gov. Rick Perry are quietly exploring a plan to hire private contractors to take over parts or all of Texas' cash-strapped health care system for convicted felons, legislative leaders on Wednesday gave an initial cold shoulder to the idea.
"The concern is that private vendors would come in and cherry-pick the best parts of the system, and leave everything else because that's not where the money is," said Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire, D-Houston , who participated in the meeting.
Even so, Texas' costs have been spiraling upward for several years, and the two universities have increasingly complained they are losing big money on the contracts.
The current prison health care budget is more than $464 million a year, approximately $51 million short of what medical officials say their actual costs are.