Closing the Coverage Gap: What You Need to Know
Guest post via Texas Well and Healthy What is the Coverage Gap? About 1 million uninsured Texans are in the Coverage Gap, meaning they have no affordable health insurance options but would be covered...
View ArticleRefunds and Repayments from Marketplace Subsidies Very Likely
Last January people across the country began receiving subsidies as they signed up for health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplaces set up by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These subsidies...
View ArticleLimiting Surprise Medical Bills
No one likes an unexpected bill, but Texans are fed up with the surprise bills they receive after ER visits, even when they go to hospitals in their insurance network. This session the Legislature is...
View ArticleKids Shouldn’t Have to Wait for Health Coverage
Today Texas law requires that a child must be without private health coverage for 90 days prior to enrolling in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), known as a CHIP waiting period. Once a...
View ArticleScarlet Letters on Insurance ID Cards
Imagine if your approximate income was printed on your health insurance ID card alongside your copay and deductible amounts. Would you consider it an invasion of privacy if staff at doctor’s offices,...
View ArticleThe Coverage Gap and the Welcome Mat Effect
By Caitlin Shea, CPPP Research and KIDS Count Intern What is the coverage gap? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was written to provide affordable health coverage to adults through two primary mechanisms:...
View ArticleDown to the Wire
Hundreds of bills have run out of time in the Texas Legislature, but a flurry of amendments and maneuvers mean several policy solutions – and some policy nightmares – still have a chance of passing....
View Article10 Days Left
With 10 days left in the 84th Legislative session, there are still a handful of major decisions pending. Here is a preview of upcoming action we’re watching and some of our work from the past week....
View ArticleSupreme Court Protects Affordable Health Insurance
Today the Supreme Court handed down its decision in King v. Burwell, protecting the rights of consumers in all states – including those like Texas that did not set up their own health insurance...
View ArticleMarriage Decision Makes Health Insurance Benefits Accessible
On Friday June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court made history by requiring states to allow same-sex couples to marry and to acknowledge marriages of same-sex couples performed in other states. This landmark...
View ArticleBeautiful, messy ole’ democracy
Winston Churchill once quipped that “democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried.” Like many Americans, I celebrated the Fourth of July this year with extra...
View ArticleIs Texas Doing it for the Kids?
The new national KIDS COUNT® Data Book from the Annie E. Casey Foundation released today reminds us how challenging it is to be a kid in Texas. Once again, Texas ranked among the ten worst states for...
View ArticleMedicare and Medicaid Looking Good at 50
Like so many Americans, I am now in that phase of life with aging parents. My dad has advanced Alzheimer’s. Though he’s still living at home and mom does a great job taking care of him, he needs...
View ArticleHigh Enrollment in Medicaid Expansion Benefits States
Many Republican leaders and other conservatives have argued strongly against Medicaid expansion. The claim is that higher-than-expected expansion will cost their states too much, leaving giant holes in...
View ArticleACA’s “Family Glitch” Hurts Millions
Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed 5 years ago, more than 16 million people have gained health insurance as a direct result of the law. Gallup recently released a poll showing that the...
View ArticleCensus Data Reveal New Facts on Health Insurance
There were several key takeaways from this week’s U.S. Census release about health insurance. Here are my favorites: Things got better There were over 700,000 fewer uninsured Texans in 2014 than in...
View ArticleHealth Insurance Marketplace Enrollment Timeline
Welcome to our Countdown to Coverage 2016 blog series. Over the next several weeks we’ll provide the information consumers need to make the best health insurance choices for themselves and their...
View ArticleNeed Health Insurance? Look Beyond Sticker Price
Next month marks the beginning of the third open enrollment period, during which Texans can purchase insurance from Healthcare.gov, the Health Insurance Marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act....
View ArticleWhy Immigrants Struggle to Get Health Coverage
For this week’s installment of Countdown to Coverage 2016 we’re looking at some of the challenges uninsured lawfully present immigrants often face when trying to get health insurance. Two key reasons...
View ArticleUphill Battle for Immigrants to get Insurance
Last week we discussed how confusion about eligibility and fear can keep immigrants from accessing the affordable coverage now available to them through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This week we will...
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