Healthcare has become a contentious topic in Texas. It has the highest percentage of uninsured residents and uninsured children. 14-19 % of Texan children lacked health insurance in 2013. About half of those children live in poverty. And even amongst those who live with incomes twice below federal poverty level, 7% remain uninsured. Our rates surpass those of every state and the national uninsured rate. Minorities are the most affected. Other factors such as low income levels, educational attainment and citizenship status also correlates with minorities. Poverty and lack of access to healthcare and cultural barriers make healthcare accessibility difficult among many minority populations. Children of ethnic minorities are unwittingly affected, especially the ones of low income families.
The solution however already exists. So why are the the uninsured rates so abysmally high?
The Texas Legislature has not voted to expand Medicaid as part of the nationally proposed Affordable Care Act. Many of its neighbours such as New Mexico and Louisiana have implemented ACC and their uninsured rates are much lower (among children and adults). Expanding Medicaid is the best option for ensuring coverage and extending opportunities to extricate people out of poverty. Healthcare definitely is a big factor in poverty. Medicaid is proven to be the third largest poverty reducing program and the second largest in reducing extreme poverty. Every child regardless of economic or ethnic status deserves a promising future and why not give them all that they are deserving of?
The advantages of basic Healthcare are many: better potential quality for quality Healthcare being the most immediate. It also has economic benefits for both medical facilities/professionals and patients. It saves medical facilities on uncompensated costs such as self-pay adjustments and emergency department visits. Medicaid expansion states saw “significantly greater reductions” in their uncompensated costs in comparison to non-expansion states, $2.16 billion in 2014. Such costs were due to the fact that patients could not afford to get ailments treated on time and were forced to visit emergency rooms as a last resort. Some people in the Rio Grande Valley (one with the highest minority population and highest poverty rates) even claimed that they even made trips across the border to Mexico to access most of the basic Healthcare services. Furthermore, as aforementioned, the basic Healthcare coverage enables patients to access preventive services, needed prescription medication, to be screened and diagnosed for chronic conditions and access to dental care.
Currently, the lack of expansion of Medicaid is detrimental to Texas children. CHIP and Medicaid are primary providers for children of Hispanic, African and Asian American families. It has provided a safety-net for children (and their families) during economic recessions and slowdowns when families lose employer-sponsored insurance. Additionally, it is harder for immigrant families to find resources to begin with. Families face difficulties due to “adverse policies, administrative processes and federal eligibility rules.” The restrictions in place creates more hindrances.
The bar of eligibility set by the state to qualify for healthcare. Families earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough for tax subsidies to purchase Marketplace coverage. Four million adults fall into this criteria, and their children. While more than half of the uninsured children can qualify for public programs, they are not enrolled. This is due to the fact that even when families have better access, it does not mean that they are easy to navigate. The state needs to do much to alleviate the uninsured of Texas. Expanding Medicaid would be a crucial step ahead.
With basic healthcare no longer a prerogative, many would live healthier lives and with a new found confidence. Many of these children will live up to their full potentials and become better contributors and participants of American society. Many immigrants come to America with big hopes, primarily not for themselves but for their children and their posterity. Equity in Healthcare would make that possible.
