Welcome to the 60 Minute Challenge for understanding how to solve Texas’ health coverage issues, reducing the percentage of uninsured Texans from 24% to under 10%.
We won’t actually solve all the issues in an hour, but we can have a clearer, better understanding of what the real issues are, and therefore be better equipped to have a serious conversation about how we as adults and Texans solve the current dysfunctional health system. Only after we have almost everyone covered, can we then deal with the issues of costs and improving quality.
For the first 30 minutes: here are six articles that take an average of 3 to 5 minutes to read.
- Texas’ Fragmented Safety Net (with funding chart)
- By choosing not to expand Medicaid, Texas will forego approximately $9.6 billion ANNUALLY
- Alternatives to Medicaid Expansion in Texas
- The terrible consequences of using hospital Emergency Rooms as primary care providers
- Hospital reforms are not enough to solve Texas’ uninsured problem
- Solving Fragmented Funding for Women’s Health Care
For your second 30 minutes, read the Executive Summary and some of the in-depth research the national Kaiser Family Foundation reports in “The Uninsured Population in Texas: Understanding Coverage Needs and the Potential Impact of the Affordable Care Act.”
Now, let’s talk. Engage in the comments section, or send us an email.
After reviewing this data, we are ready to engage in a meaningful conversation about the real issues underlying health coverage in Texas, and how to solve them for everyone’s benefit, including the State of Texas’ economic benefit.
I have a rare tumor in my heart. It was found at the emergency room. I am in the gap in Texas. I can’t see a cardiologist, can’t have the tests for it, I sure can’t have surgery to remove it. We are low income. I can’t work. We live in an old travel trailer that leaks. This is the face of the real people that Texas is killing by not expanding medicaid. Please go to the website. The tumor described is the size of mine. See the picture of the tumor in a hand. I am a 59 year old grandmother. What would the leaders in Texas tell my grandchildren when I am dead?