HealthCare.Gov Enrollment Period Is Now Open!
November 1, 2024
Health Insurance Coverage
In Texas and across the U.S., people enrolled in a health insurance program — private or public — have better access to health care than the uninsured: studies show that the uninsured are less likely to get prevention services or care they need for their major health conditions and chronic diseases.
Texas faces long-standing challenges to optimal health, including the nation’s highest uninsured rates, and steep financial and systemic barriers for those who have insurance. Public policy choices — federal, state, and local — shape not just access to medical care, but also family economic security, employability, and even parenting capacity. We seek policy changes to make affordable, comprehensive care a reality for every Texan.
Tracking Medicaid & SNAP in Texas
An effective Medicaid and SNAP eligibility and enrollment system forms the foundation for meeting food and health care needs of eligible, low-income Texans. Its most basic function is to process eligibility accurately and without delay. Texas’ crisis-ridden system is doing neither. Every Texan’s tracker highlights key developments related to Texas’ strained eligibility system as Texas re-checks eligibility for all 6 million Texans with Medicaid, following a nationwide pause on disenrollments during the pandemic.
Medicaid Unwinding Resources
New rules for Texas Medicaid started in April. Through May of next year, Texas will re-check eligibility for all 5.9 million Texans with Medicaid following a 3-year nationwide pause on disenrollments during the pandemic. Millions of Texans, mostly children in low-income families and postpartum mothers, will be at risk of losing their health insurance. Texans must take action to keep their coverage.
Uninsured in Texas
In Texas and across the U.S., people enrolled in a health insurance program — private or public — have better access to health care than the uninsured. Uninsured Texans are less likely to get prevention services or care they need.
ACA & Healthcare Reform
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more than 20 million Americans, including around 1 million Texans, have gained health coverage. The ACA also put critical protections in place for the Texans with pre-existing health conditions.
Medicaid
Medicaid and CHIP are public insurance programs created under federal law and operated as federal-state partnerships. In 2019, about 4 million Texans were covered by Medicaid on any given day, about 3 million of them children.
Consumer Protection
Consumer protections in private health coverage are necessary to help people access needed health care and protect against financial ruin due to an injury or illness. To do that, coverage must be adequate, provide a range of benefits, be accepted by enough doctors, and cap an individual’s out-of-pocket costs at a level that is affordable relative to their income.
Eligibility & Enrollment
Learn about eligibility, outreach, and enrollment in Texas. A high number of Texans are eligible for a health insurance affordability program (such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and subsidies for plans purchased through the health insurance Marketplace created by the Affordable Care Act) but are not enrolled.
Children's Medicaid & CHIP
Ensuring that our children can access health care is particularly essential, because early diagnosis can be the difference between a lifetime disability, or a child reaching their highest possible potential. Texas has the worst rate of uninsured children (11.2 percent of Texas kids uninsured in 2018) in the country–more than twice the national rate of 5.5%!
Related Resources
Your Support Makes a Difference
We believe Texas can be the best state in the United States, and our public policy work is an indispensable part of getting there. Your support improves equity in health care, food security, education, and financial stability.