The rate of uninsured people in the U.S. fell to 13.4 percent in the second quarter of 2014, the lowest quarterly average recorded since pollster Gallup started tracking the number in 2008.
The impact of the ACA is becoming apparent: adding 8 million people to the insurance rolls according to the Urban Institute. The effects are especially seen in states that expanded Medicaid, the federal program providing health access to the impoverished.
Texas did not expand Medicaid. Wary of the promises of the federal government to pick up the check, Gov. Rick Perry stated many times that he didn't want Texas to take on the additional people only to have the federal dollars dry up in a few years.
Despite not expanding, Texas has seen a surge in enrollment of more than 80,000 people in Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).
What have you seen the affects of the Patient and Affordable Care Act to be? Did your premiums go up? Were you for the first time able to enroll due to a preexisting condition?
Guests:
- Genevieve Kenney, senior fellow and co-director of the Health Policy Center at the Urban Institute
- Bee Moorhead, executive director of Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy
*This is the first segment in the July 17 edition of The Source, which airs at 3 p.m. on KSTX 89.1 FM. Audio from this show will be posted by 5:30 p.m.
