Health Insurance for Texas: Who Will Get Help In September?

Health Insurance for Texas: Who Will Get Help In September?

For 20 years, people in Texas have had less access to medical care. A higher percentage of residents have had to survive without health insurance in Texas than in any other state. Health care reform starts to change that in September 2010.

Over the last five years, Texas health insurance premiums rose by a whopping 40 percent. That was 10 times faster than household income rose for Texas residents during the same period. With the cost of health insurance soaring beyond reach for many working people, families were hit hard. Of the uninsured in Texas, more than 80 percent are in families supported by at least one working member. Although three-fourths of them have incomes above 200 percent of the federal poverty level, health insurance has remained out of reach.

As one in four Texas residents (nearly six million people) were trying to stay healthy in the absence of any kind of health insurance, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law in March 2010.

How Will Health Insurance In Texas Change In September?

Both young and old will benefit from the Affordable Care Act. This law includes provisions for children who have been excluded from health insurance coverage because insurers did not want to accept the risk of claims for known health problems.

Insurers will be required to cover everyone under the age of 19, even when they have known health problems, as of September 23, 2010. The new provision