Affordable Care Act Brings $10 Million to Texas Health Centers

by: Emily Cadik

Fri May 17, 2013 at 10:30 AM CDT

The U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made in important step in implementing the Affordable Care Act by providing $9.8 million to Federally Qualified Community Health Centers (FQHCs) in Texas to help them offer in-person enrollment assistance to uninsured Texans. Nationwide, $150 million is being distributed to FQHCs.

The funding will allow FQHCs to hire and train staff, hold community outreach events, educate consumers about their coverage options and eligibility, and assist them in enrolling in the health insurance options available and affordable to them.

According to Stacey Pogue from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, "Three of four people who will be eligible for coverage through the new Marketplace say they want in-person assistance to help to learn about and enroll in coverage." This funding for FQHCs will go a long way towards making that happen.

There are close to 70 FQHCs in Texas, representing more than 300 sites in all regions and close to half of Texas counties. About one million Texans make use of FQHCs each year, and about half of them are uninsured. Of particular importance to Texas is the fact that FQHCs do not deny care based on immigration status. They're an indispensable resource, and a great way to reach and work with uninsured Texans.

Read more after the jump.

Report Shows Investing in Kids Pays Off

by: Emily Cadik

Mon May 13, 2013 at 10:30 AM CDT

Over the past twenty years, investments in per-child spending have tracked with child well-being. Not only did students perform better in school during periods of higher investment, but there were positive trends in the areas of health, safety and other behaviors as well.  
The CPPP concluded that, "when Texas kids do better, the U.S. does better" - from 2000 to 2010, half of all of the growth of the youth population in the U.S. took place in Texas., and one out of every eleven kids in the country lives in Texas. If we don't invest now, we'll pay the price later. As the report points out, Texas is ranked as one of the best states to do business, but "one of the worst states to be a kid." Read more after the jump.

Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act Passes Texas House, Heads to Senate

by: Emily Cadik

Wed May 08, 2013 at 03:00 PM CDT

Texas may soon take some important strides in gender equality.

In late April, the Texas House passed a bill to tweak state laws to conform to the national version of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (the first bill that President Obama signed into law in 2009). It's now heading to the Senate, where a companion measure has already made its way out of committee, thanks to State Sen. Wendy Davis (D-Fort Worth).

In 2012, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the federal version of the Ledbetter Act doesn't offer protection in state cases. This bill, introduced in the House by Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), would extend the Ledbetter Act's protections to state cases, meaning women have more time to sue for wage discrimination and to seek restitution in state courts. Without it, women essentially have to become aware of discrimination and take action within six months of their first paycheck.

The law passed the House by a margin of 79-50, which means there are 50 members of the Texas House - all Republicans - who do not believe women should have more than 180 days from their first discriminatory paycheck to file suit against an employer.

Despite this disappointing opposition, if the bill becomes a law, Texas will be the first state in the nation to tweak its state laws to support the federal act.

The bill will also be an important step in addressing Texas's vast gender wage gap. According to the National Women's Law Center, women in Texas earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Read about how the wage gap affects different groups of women after the jump.

Medicaid: Come for the Health Care, Stay for the Quality of Life

by: Emily Cadik

Mon May 06, 2013 at 09:00 AM CDT

Last week, the second batch of results from the experiment was released, showing that those with Medicaid were consuming more health care - especially preventative care. According to the Washington Post, "Here's what we can say with certainty: Medicaid works as health insurance."

But it's not just the increase in care that set the new Medicaid patients apart from those without health insurance. Other benefits included:

• A 30 percent decrease in depression rates,
• A decrease in the percent of participants who faced out-of-pocket medical expenses totaling more than 30 percent of their annual income from 5.5 percent to 1 percent, and
• A 50 percent decrease in the likelihood of experiencing financial strain, like delaying payments on other bills or taking out loans to cover medical expenses.

Read about the conservative response after the jump.  

Texas Legislature May Crack Down on Payday Lenders

by: Emily Cadik

Wed May 01, 2013 at 03:00 PM CDT

The bill would allow cities to establish payday lending ordinances, impose limits on fees and interest rates, allow civil penalties against payday lenders who try to offer consumers unauthorized products, limit multiple-payment payday loans and auto title loans from extending beyond 180 days or being refinanced, limit the number of credit extensions permitted and impose a "cooling off" period between loans.  

Right now, Texas is a pretty good place to be if you're a payday lender. Not so much if you're a consumer. According to the Dallas Morning News: "The Pew Charitable Trusts classified the Lone Star State as one of 28 permissive states when it comes to payday loan regulations. Pew found that 8 percent of Texas residents use payday loans, above the national average of 5.5 percent."

The payday lending bill now has to make it through the House, where the payday lending industry is expected to ramp up its efforts to change the bill from what was passed in the Senate. Sen. Davis doesn't feel too optimistic about its chances there: "They're going over to the House and try to kill it... There are 3,500 payday and auto title storefronts in Texas, more than the number of Whataburgers and McDonalds combined."

But it does have the support of both parties, as well as many consumer advocates. According to the Center on Public Policy Priorities (CPPP): "Texas Impact, CPPP, and other consumer groups supported the committee version of the Senate bill. Among other consumer protections, the committee version would save Texas consumers at least $132 million annually by prohibiting excessive fees."

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also released a white paper last week, which found problems with habitual use of payday loans:

"These products may become harmful for consumers when they are used to make up for chronic cash flow shortages. We find that a sizable share of payday loan and deposit advance users conduct transactions on a long-term basis, suggesting that they are unable to fully repay the loan and pay other expenses without taking out a new loan shortly thereafter. Two-thirds of payday borrowers in our sample had 7 or more loans in a year. Most of the transactions conducted by consumers with 7 or more loans were taken within 14 days of a previous loan being paid back-frequently, the same day as a previous loan was repaid... It is unclear whether consumers understand the costs, benefits, and risks of using these products."

Texas on the Brink: Texas Ranks in Bottom Five States on Important Education Measures

by: Emily Cadik

Wed Apr 24, 2013 at 03:00 PM CDT

• Average SAT scores (47th)
  
• Estimated public high school graduation rate (44th)
  
• Percentage of population graduated from high school (50th)

Legislative Study Group Report Shows Disturbing Health Statistics for Texas

by: Emily Cadik

Tue Apr 16, 2013 at 03:30 PM CDT

We already know that Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the nation. But some other rankings also stand out:

• Percent of low-income population covered by Medicaid: 48th
• Percent of population with employer-based health insurance: 43rd
• Health care expenditures per capita: 46th
• Per capita state spending on mental health: 50th
• Percent of women who receive pap smears: 41st
• Percent of women over 40 who receive mammograms: 42nd
• Percent of women who receive prenatal care in first trimester: 50th

• Cervical cancer rate: 8th
• Percent of adults who are overweight or obese: 8th  
• Prevalence of diagnosed diabetes: 15th
• Percent of babies born at low birth weight: 19th

Fortunately, the Affordable Care Act will soon make health insurance available for many uninsured Texans via health exchanges. But there will still be millions of low-income Texans who can't afford it - people that we need a Medicaid expansion in order to reach. Most states are taking advantage of the immense resources the federal government is devoting to this expansion. Without it, Texas will fall even farther behind.  

How Do We Turn the Uninsured into the Insured in Texas?

by: Emily Cadik

Mon Apr 15, 2013 at 09:00 AM CDT

Non-profits and advocacy organizations have stepped up to take on this challenge at a national level, as well as in some states. Enroll America and Get Covered America, for instance, are working to raise awareness of the ACA in order to get the $50 million uninsured Americans insured.  But what about in Texas specifically?

A bill in the legislature this session (HB 459) authorizes an ACA Navigator program in state law to coordinate with the federal-level program, which will be ramping up soon.  Navigators provide in-person assistance (beyond the existing networks of community health centers, insurance agents and other health organizations) to help uninsured people understand what they're eligible for and get them signed up.

According to Stacey Pogue from the enter for Public Policy Priorities,

"Three of four people who will be eligible for coverage through the new Marketplace say they want in-person assistance to help to learn about and enroll in coverage.  Navigators will help meet this increased demand for in-person enrollment assistance and can tailor outreach efforts to Marketplace enrollees who are lower income, less educated, more likely to be uninsured, more racially and ethnically diverse, and more likely to speak a foreign language than people who are insured today."

In addition to hopefully getting a state-level Navigator program, it'll be interesting to see what emerges in Texas to make sure that enormous share of uninsureds are actually taking advantage of what will soon be available - especially given the Governor's resistance to the ACA.

Hospitals Turning Away More Uninsured Patients, and Still No Medicaid Expansion

by: Emily Cadik

Wed Apr 10, 2013 at 10:30 AM CDT

According to the Houston Chronicle:

Texas is diverting millions of dollars of federal money intended to reimburse three state-owned hospitals for uninsured care and shortfalls in Medicaid payments, University of Texas officials say. That money, which is rerouted into a general fund, otherwise would offset expenses that the University of Texas Medical Branch, M.D. Anderson and UT Tyler incur providing care for the uninsured...

The intent of the federal programs is for the state and federal governments to repay the hospitals, but Texas contributes no money and instead forces the state hospitals to provide the state's contribution, then takes the federal contribution for the general fund. The hospitals are never compensated for the cost of caring for the uninsured and for shortfalls in Medicaid payments, according to officials at UTMB, UT Tyler and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

Failure to reimburse hospitals means they can serve fewer uninsured patients. They're turning people away that they're supposed to be able to help, and are even receiving money to help.

And it keeps getting worse. For instance, according to the Texas Observer:

In 2011, UTMB denied 91 percent of uninsured Texans seeking medical care, according to a new report from a nonprofit coalition advocating for Galveston County's uninsured residents. That's a sharp increase; in 2005, UTMB turned away just 35 percent of uninsured people seeking care.

Unfortunately, taking the funding for the uninsured for other purposes has been the legislature's band-aid for budget issues since 1986. Rick Peters, bureau chief of the former Texas Department of Health, now the Department of Health Services, from 1986 to 1999, says, "That's how that budget crisis got solved... That freed up a bunch of money to be rolled back to the general fund."

Expanding Medicaid would insure millions of additional Texans - Texans who are more and more often being turned away by hospitals. But according to the Governor, Senator Cruz, Senator Cornyn and many in the Texas legislature, our state doesn't really need it.

Perry, Cruz and Cornyn Spreading More Medicaid Lies

by: Emily Cadik

Sat Apr 06, 2013 at 02:00 PM CDT

In the press conference, Perry claimed that, "In Texas, only three out of every ten doctors are accepting new Medicaid patients, and we fear that number may actually decrease if expansion went through." His numbers are just wrong.

Read more below the jump.