Once Again, Texas Still the Worst in the Nation When it Comes to the Uninsured

[TexasTowelie]

We are currently in the thick of the third open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, the time when Texans can shop around and enroll in a health insurance plan using the federal insurance marketplace at healthcare.gov. As much as Republicans have derided Obamacare, Texans have already benefitted immensely from the Affordable Care Act — more than 900,000 people have gotten covered over the past two years. Though these numbers are impressive, a new study suggests that it’s still not enough, because Texas is still the state with the highest uninsured population, even after the Affordable Care Act.

According to a new study from the financial group WalletHub, Texas ranks dead last in the percentage of residents who still lack health insurance. WalletHub found that 19.06% of Texans are still uninsured, a drop of about 5% from 2010, before the Affordable Care Act became law. In comparison, the state that ranked first, Massachusetts, had only 3.28% uninsured. California, a state that has a large population and has cooperated with Obamacare, saw its uninsured rate fall by over 6% to about 12% uninsured, placing it in the middle of the list at position 36.

Vulnerable Texans are faring the worst. Not only does Texas rank last overall when it comes to the uninsured, Texas is also dead last when it comes to the percentage of children who are uninsured. 11% of Texas kids lack health insurance, a rate that is nearly double the national average. People who are white and higher income are most likely to have health insurance, while low-income minority populations are still uninsured. According to the WalletHub report:

The uninsured rate for whites is 32.85 percent lower than that for blacks.
The uninsured rate for whites is 63.92 percent lower than that for Hispanics.
The uninsured rate for higher-income households is 72.25 percent lower than that for lower-income households.

Read more: http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/31312/once-again-texas-still-the-worst-in-the-nation-when-it-comes-to-the-uninsured

[Gothmog]

1. It is tough living in Texas as times