A few years ago I spoke with someone in Texas's health and human services department. He told me something along these lines: "We're pretty tight here. You don't get on Medicaid unless your pregnant or living in a homeless shelter."

But there's more than one way for a state government to be active in stepping into the world of health care. The Tyler Morning Telegraph (PDF) cites the work of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in a recent editorial on health insurance mandates.

It turns out that Texas imposes 55 mandates on individual insurance policies, making the market there one of the most heavily regulated in the country.