Texas Insurance Shoppers

Texas has a long history of hard working people digging in their heels and getting by.  It’s not a state that tends to offer government handouts or entitlements on a whim.  The lack of state programs to provide health care for poor Texans is reflected in the state of the health care system:  Texas ranks 49th out of 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of the overall performance of its health care system, and is last in the nation in the percentage of its residents covered by health insurance.

There are plenty of barriers that Texas has to overcome to improve the health care numbers.  Between 2000 and 2006, Texas had the fastest growing illegal immigrant population of any state in the US.  And a full third of the state’s residents under age 65 fall into the poor and low income categories, with only the poorest of those qualifying for Medicaid.  And then there’s always ignorance on the part of the public.  Jason Robertson’s article includes a mention of Mesquite resident Gloria Newton, who works 72 hours a week at two jobs, one of which offers health insurance for $35/week.  Ms. Newton says that she could afford the premiums, but she considers the health insurance to be of little value because of its $1500 deductible.  So she chooses to go without.  In the absence of a universal health insurance system, people like Ms. Newton will continue to be uninsured unless they get a serious wake-up call in the form of a major illness or injury to themselves or a loved one.

The grassroots group Health Care For All Texas is trying to implement a single payer system to provide health insurance for all Texans as one group, administered by a nonprofit organization.  The group detailed their plan at a Texas legislative meeting in 2006, but so far no legislation has been proposed.  Indeed, providing health insurance in Texas for everyone will be an uphill battle.  Mass, which implemented a universal health insurance system in 2007, was starting with 94% of their residents already covered by employer sponsored health insurance.  In Texas, that number is only 74%.  But just because something is challenging doesn’t mean that it can’t or shouldn’t be done.  Texas must face the current health insurance challenge head-on in order to solve a situation that is becoming more and more a problem for all residents, not just the uninsured.  The uninsured are still receiving health care, often at over-crowded emergency rooms across the state.  And the cost of their care is passed on to Texas health insurance carriers and insured patients in the form of higher premiums and copays. 

It will be interesting to see what health care changes come about in the next few years on a national level, and how those changes effect the Texas health insurance system.  Hopefully the number of uninsured residents will start to shrink, and emergency rooms will be able to provide services for true emergencies, rather then functioning as primary care facilities for uninsured patients.

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