A story in today’s Houston Chronicle highlights the urgent need for Houston and Harris County leaders to work together to reach our uninsured neighbors and help them sign up for health insurance.
Titled “Houston ground zero in search for uninsured,” the news article covers ground those of us in health care know so well: a tremendous population of uninsured people, and too few people and dollars to reach them. Even with grants and outside aid coming into our area, the key to reaching our uninsured neighbors in the Houston / Harris County region will be cooperation and buy-in from the very top – Houston Mayor Anise Parker and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
The good news is that both Judge Emmett and Mayor Parker understand the business case for covering the uninsured. Their strong leadership can make a huge difference in mobilizing people in this region.
By the way, the Chronicle article quotes the statistic of approximately 800,000 uninsured in the Houston city limits. For the Houston region, the number of uninsured is significantly more than 1 million citizens.
