Medicaid Expansion for Texas

April 18, 2019. My classmate Phuong Nguyen posted "Medicaid expansion for Texas." His main point is problems of Texas medical system. In Texas, many people still cannot afford their medical coverage. I really agree with that people with low incomes or disabilities confront difficulties in paying for medical expenses. His opinion is that Texas should expand Medicaid to support the health of Texans because Texas has strict Medicaid qualifications which limit the number of people that can access the benefits. First, he mentions the Texan's health insurance. He says that Texas makes up about 31 percent of total more than 2 million uninsured and poor people that distribute in the coverage gap in the analysis of Kaiser Family Foundation. In addition, Texas is one of 14 states that refuses to expand Medicaid in the United States that makes many people cannot access health insurance. That means Texas has a large number of people not having health insurance. Thinking all of those happening, he thinks that expanding Medicaid will help more Texans to get aids for their health coverage and it may have a positive effect on economic growth of Texas because if they agree to expand the Medicaid, they will receive the fund from the federal, and people who get low-income can be less suffered from economic problem for a health care.

I totally agree with his opinion that Texas should expand Medicaid to support the health of Texans. According to reports, Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the United States at 16.6 percent. Many of those uninsured, about 638,000, are in the so-called "coverage gap." They don't make enough money to qualify for the insurance subsidies guaranteed by the ACA, but they make too much cash to qualify for Texas' Medicaid statute. In addition to those in the gap, the expansion would also cover more than 400,000 Texas residents with incomes just above the poverty line. Both groups are made up of the people the ACA's Medicaid expansion was designed to cover, but Texas' state representatives have left them out. I think the Legislature should make sure there is a health insurance option available to Texans who build our homes, take care of our toddlers and grandparents, serve our food when we go out to eat, or who stay home to care for their new baby while a spouse goes to work. Unfortunately, many of these jobs don't offer insurance and don't pay enough for Texans to buy their own insurance. The federal government is offering states expanded Medicaid funding to cover these specific families, but so far state leaders have turned down the funding without offering any alternative plans. I think state leaders should think about this problem again, and they should know that there are many benefits of expanding Medicaid. By reducing the number of people in Texas without insurance, expanding Medicaid will lower the costs that are passed on to insured Texans and to Texas businesses. Moreover, by increasing job and economic activity in the state, the Medicaid expansion can help boost state revenue.