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More Texas Women, Hispanics Insured Under ACA, Report Suggests

KUT
A June report from the Episcopal Health Foundation and Rice University’s Baker Institute suggests the uninsured rates among Texas Hispanics and women have dropped the most since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.";

Some Texans may have benefited more than others from the Affordable Care Act, according to research by the Episcopal Health Foundation and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the rate of uninsured Hispanics has dropped 38 percent. As of March this year, less than a quarter of Hispanics still didn't have health insurance.

The report also suggests the rate of uninsured among all women has dropped from roughly 26 percent to 18 percent. [Read a PDF version of the report here.]

Elena Marks, president of the Episcopal Health Foundation and a fellow at Rice’s Baker Institute, says women are still more likely to be uninsured compared to men, and more women live in poverty.

"That is going to leave women without an option in Texas without a Medicaid expansion," Marks says. "The bottom line is likely a financial barrier, and if they don’t have the resources to be able to afford a plan even with the subsidies, then they’re not going to get one.

Marks says if Texas had expanded Medicaid eligibility, that would’ve been an option for women who don’t qualify for a tax subsidy. Researchers also found that although African Americans experienced the greatest drop in uninsured rates nationally, here in Texas they had the smallest decrease. 

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