Texas has both the highest percentage of people without health insurance in the country (nearly one in five) and the largest absolute number of uninsured (4.6 million). Sadly, the American Health Care Act – the GOP’s Obamacare replacement plan – will probably make the situation in Texas even worse.
Texas was one of the big winners under Obamacare. The state saw a decline in the uninsured population by 750,000 people between 2013 and 2014. Overall, the state enjoyed a nearly 30 percent decline in its percentage of adults without health insurance.
Not only that, but Texans reaped these benefits despite the fact that the state’s Republican leadership refused to expand Medicaid – a measure that could have reduced the number of uninsured by another 800,000 people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcp7UxWKoog
Now the AHCA threatens Texas’ hard-won gains. As Katie Leslie of the Dallas Morning News found last month:
“…The [AHCA] could have a major impact on Texas as a new amendment would allow states to opt out of key Obamacare regulations governing how much insurers can charge people with pre-existing conditions and the services they must offer.
“…Critics, already concerned over previous findings that the American Health Care Act would result in millions of low-income Americans dropping coverage, worry the changes could mean states like Texas return to pre-ACA days when people with pre-existing conditions suffered.”
Stacy Pogue is one of those critics. A senior policy analyst with the Center for Public Policy in Austin, she expressed dismay over the potential implementation of AHCA:
“In Texas, we would definitely be at risk of losing access to health care coverage we need and returning to a time when we had sick people segregated in a high-risk pool that cost way too much and covered too few.”
An Obamacare repeal would be especially hard on Hispanics. After Obamacare was implemented, the percentage of Hispanics without health insurance declined from 42.6 to 30.7 percent, the largest improvement among any racial or ethnic group in Texas. Without the protections of Obamacare, hundreds of thousands could be left without health coverage.
Many Texans are understandably unhappy about the AHCA. At a town hall in March, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas’ 32nd district got an earful from constituents who were angry about losing their health coverage.
Check it out below:
H/T Daily Kos.
Featured image via YouTube video.
