Despite the advent of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 and nearly three complete open enrollment seasons finished, Texas is still trailing states like Florida when it comes to take-up rates for health insurance.
A little more than 5 million people were uninsured in Texas at the start of the 2016 open enrollment period and so far, just 1.1 million have signed up for coverage through the online health insurance exchange. All told, just 36% of Texans purchase their insurance online compared to 41% nationally.
While Texas has remained a staunch opponent of health reform, it is not simple stubbornness that’s keeping people uninsured. It’s cost.
According to a report released last week from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Episcopal Health Foundation, almost 70% of uninsured Texans blame high prices for their lack of insurance.
In fact, cost was cited as the primary reason across all ethnic groups, income levels and ages. Another 20% said they do not want health insurance, and just 6% said they were uninsured due to a lack of information about health insurance options.
Cost was found to be the most prohibitive among the oldest uninsured Texans (ages 50-64) and youngest (ages 18-30) than the middle-aged group (ages 31-49) – 75% compared to 64%.
This isn’t just perception, according to Vivian Ho, the chair in health economics at the Baker Institute.
“Premiums are on average higher for older grounds than their younger counterparts, which would make affordability a more significant issue,” Ho said. “Overall, young people earn less than older people, so even well-priced insurance plans seem less affordable.”
For those in the middle-aged group, simply not wanting health insurance was also among the largest reasons for going uninsured. Almost 27% of uninsured adults in that age group said they didn’t want coverage – double that of any other group.
Elena Marks, EHF President and CEO, outreach from public officials and insurance professionals played a significant role in decreasing the state’s uninsured rate thus far, though there is still a long way to go in “benefit[ing] from ACA coverage opportunities.”
“An important finding of this survey is there’s no significant information barrier for Texans who still don’t have health insurance,” Marks said in a statement. “Just two years ago, it was a much different story. As the Affordable Care Act coverage options went into effect, lack of information about the law and the new health insurance options was widespread.”
The report is the 18th in a series on the implementation of the ACA is Texas co-authored by Marks and Ho.
