Report: 34,000 people don’t have health insurance in Golden Crescent region

Dec. 13--The vast majority of 34,000 people in the Golden Crescent region without health insurance come from working families or don't have more than a high school education, according to a new data analysis.

An estimated 16 percent of people under 65 living in the Golden Crescent -- which includes Victoria, Calhoun, DeWitt, Goliad, Gonzales, Jackson, Karnes, Lavaca and Wilson counties -- don't have health insurance, according to a report from the Urban Institute sponsored by Episcopal Health Foundation. That figure is slightly lower than the percentage of uninsured people statewide, which hovers around 19 percent. But it's still higher than an estimated 11 percent of the U.S. population who are uninsured.

Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation, with an estimated 4.7 million under the age of 65 without health insurance, according to the report. That's the largest uninsured population in any U.S. state.

"Many are Texans who work full time in stores, wait tables, build homes or care for Texas toddlers, but they still don't have access to affordable health insurance," said Episcopal Health Foundation president and CEO Elena Marks in a news release.

The report provides details about uninsured Texans -- for example, whether they work full time, have children or would otherwise qualify for health care programs. In the Golden Crescent region, the report found 72 percent of uninsured people lived in working families, and 79 percent of uninsured adults didn't have more than a high school education.

Historically, people of color are at a higher risk of being uninsured, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. That stood true for Hispanics in the Golden Crescent region, who made up 62 percent of the uninsured population. Twenty-nine percent were white, and 6 percent were black. In the Golden Crescent region alone, the report estimated 11,000 people would qualify for Medicaid if Texas expanded eligibility for people with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. That's roughly $35,000 for a family of four.

Right now, Texas is one of just 14 states that haven't decided to expand Medicaid, a state- and federally-run health insurance plan created to provide care for the poor and disabled. Texas officials have repeatedly rejected expansion allowed under the Affordable Care Act, leaving eligibility requirements so strict that most working adults in Texas don't qualify.

"If expanding Medicaid is not the solution, what alternative plan can we as lawmakers, policymakers and a community come up with to provide affordable access to care?" said Brian Sasser of the Episcopal Health Foundation. "Because we're going to pay for it one way or another."

People without insurance often experience worse health problems because they can't access preventative or timely medical care, Sasser explained. And when people end up in emergency rooms instead of their doctors' offices, it costs more, too. In Victoria, for example, the county's hospital spent $6.9 million providing charity care to people who couldn't afford their bills in fiscal year 2017 -- a 33 percent jump from the year before.

To further complicate things, the people who are more likely to be uninsured -- families with lower incomes and less education -- are also more likely to experience chronic illnesses and medical problems that require a doctor's help. When they can't afford care, illnesses such as asthma or diabetes can go untreated until something goes severely wrong.

"It's clear that all the things outside the doctor's office affect your health and affect the families' health," said Sasser. "And when you don't have health insurance, that just compounds that even more because now you don't have access to care."

Marina reports on local government for the Victoria Advocate. She may be reached at mriker@vicad.com or 361-580-6511.

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