The number of people signing up for health insurance through HealthCare.gov has skyrocketed across the country and in Texas, according to new data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. So far, over 20 million Americans, including 3.3 million Texans, have signed up for health plans for 2024 through the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.
Those enrollment numbers reflect an increase of 24 percent nationwide and 36.5 percent increase in Texas since the last open enrollment period. The number of Texans enrolled in plans through HealthCare.gov has nearly tripled over the last three years.
Yet trying to tear down the Affordable Care Act remains a goal for many, including presidential candidate Donald Trump.
To explain why the ACA continues to provide low-cost health insurance to a growing number of Texans we’re joined by Karla Martinez, Senior Policy Analyst at EveryTexan.
Operation Lone Star
The controversial border initiative known as "Operation Lone Star" has wrongfully targeted some U.S. citizens. And there’s concern that could happen more often-- if a new state law takes effect in March. It gives all law enforcement officers the power to arrest anyone they suspect of crossing the border illegally. KTEP’s Angela Kocherga reports --an El Paso family targeted by mistake is now seeking accountability.
Mexico Food is everywhere.
Mexican food is virtually everywhere in the United States —especially in Texas. A new analysis by the Pew Research Center published Thursday found that 1 in 10 restaurants in the United States serves Mexican food.
This could be seen as a triumph for the tostada and a hooray for the jalapeño, but this plethora of Mexican plates shows that something is fundamentally changing in America and how so much fear of the so-called “browning of America” is misplaced.
Mark Hugo Lopez is director of race and ethnicity research at Pew Research Center.
A Boerne Story
Each Texas town and city has stories to be told about its history, its architecture and its culture. TPR’s Arts and Culture reporter, Jack Morgan, has written this audio postcard with a tale of the Hill Country town, Boerne.
You can find pictures from this story at tpr.org. And a disclosure: The Kronkosky Foundation is a grant supporter of Texas Public Radio.
