State Information: Texas
This state-specific page on Texas provides new materials published by Families USA, key health contacts, state government links, news and views from the state, and other resources that might be helpful to Texas advocates. Click on the links below to view the information you are interested in.
Key Health Contacts
AARP of Texas
98 San Jacinto Boulevard, Suite 750
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-480-9797
Fax: 512-480-9799
Email: txaarp@AARP.org
The AARP of Texas website offers information for seniors, including news alerts, special events, and legislative updates.
ADAPT-American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit
1640 E. 2nd St., Suite 100
Austin, TX 78702
Phone: 512-442-0252
Fax: 512-442-0522
Email: adapt@adapt.org
Website: www.adapt.org
Advocacy, Inc.
7800 Shoal Creek Boulevard, Suite 171E
Austin, TX 78757
Phone: 512-454-4816
Fax: 512-323-0902
Email: info@advocacyinc.org
Website: www.advocacyinc.org
Advocacy, Inc. is a nonprofit that protects and advocates for the legal rights of people with disabilities in Texas. Although it is funded by Congress, it is not a part of state or local government.
Center for Public Policy Priorities
7020 Easy Wind Drive, Ste. 200
Austin, TX 78752
Phone: 512-320-0222
Fax: 512-320-0227
Email: garciaditta@cppp.org
Website: www.cppp.org
The Center for Public Policy Priorities is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, policy research organization committed to improving public policies and private practices that influence the economic and social conditions of individuals, families, and communities.
Children's Defense Fund - Texas
4500 Blossonnet, 260
Bellaire, TX 77401
Phone: 713-664-4080
Website: www.cdftexas.org
Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
316 W. 12th Street, Suite 405
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-478-3366
Fax: 512-478-3370
Email: cotwd@cotwd.org
Website: www.cotwd.org
Consumers Union
506 West 14th St., Suite A
Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: 512-477-4431
Fax: 512-477-8934
Website: http://www.consumersunion.org/aboutcu/offices/TX.html
The Disability Policy Consortium
1016 La Posada, Suite 145
Austin, TX 78752
Phone: 512-371-1783
Fax: 512-472-8026
Email: toni@ucptexas.org
Website: http://dpctexas.org/index2.html
The Disability Policy Consortium is an independent group of statewide advocacy organizations working for progressive public policy on behalf of Texans with disabilities.
Family Health Foundation
P.O. Box 29777
San Antonio, TX 78229
Phone: 210-771-6539
Fax: 210-270-9559
Email: info@famhealth.org
Website: www.family-health-fdn.org
The Mental Health Association of Texas
1201 San Antonio St., Suite 200
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-454-3706
Fax: 512-454-3725
Website: www.mhatexas.org
National Council of La Raza
405 North Saint Mary's St., Suite 500
San Antonio, TX 78205
Phone: 210-212-4454
Fax: 210-212-4459
Website: www.nclr.org
Senior Coalition of Galveston
Galveston Multipurpose Center
2201 Avenue L
Galveston, TX 77550
Email: healthsources@aol.com
The Senior Coalition of Galveston is an advocacy group of seniors and others who support senior issues at the county, state, and national levels.
Tejano Center for Community Concerns
2950 Broadway
Houston, TX 77017
Phone: 713-644-2340
Fax: 713-641-1853
Texans Care for Children
814 San Jacinto Boulevard, Suite 307
Austin, TX 78701-2404
Phone: 512-473-2274
Fax: 512-473-2707
Email: info@texansforchildren.org
Website: www.texanscareforchildren.org
Texas Association of Community Health Care Centers
5900 Southwest Parkway, Building 3
Austin, TX 78735
Phone: 512-329-5959
Fax: 512-329-9189
Website: http://www.tachc.org/
Texas Citizen Fund
4700 W Guadalupe Suite 409
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-451-2634
Texas Public Interest Research Group (TexPIRG)
815 Brazos, Suite 600A
Austin, TX 78701
Phone: 512-479-7287
Fax: 512-479-0400
Email: info@texpirg.org
Website: www.texpirg.org
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State Government Links
State of Texas Website
Department of Insurance Website
Senior Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program
Visit the Texas Medicaid Reform Service page of the state's website for information on the state's Medicaid program.
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Other Resources
Medicaid Today; Preparing for Tomorrow: A Look at State Medicaid Program Spending, Enrollment, and Policy Trends describes policy changes in reimbursement, eligibility, benefits, delivery systems, and long-term care. It includes extensive state-specific information and a more in-depth look at case studies of the Medicaid budget and policy decisions in MA, OH, OR, and TX. (October 2012) [Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured]
Uninsured Children 2009-2011: Charting the Nation’s Progress finds that, nationally, children’s coverage continued to improve, but that half of all kids who are still uninsured live in the following six states: AR, CA, FL, GA, NY, and TX. It also includes data for the states with the highest and lowest rates of uninsured children. (October 2012) [Georgetown University Center for Children and Families]
Worry No More: Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Are Protected by the Health Care Law provides estimates of how many people will be protected from discrimination based on their health status thanks to the health care law. For the first time, the state reports include county-level data, and they include state-level data that are broken down by age, income, and racial or ethnic group. (July-August 2012) [Families USA]
Being a Woman Just Got a Little Easier: How the Affordable Care Act Benefits Women outlines what women stand to gain under the Affordable Care Act. (July 2012) [Families USA]
Dying for Coverage: The Deadly Consequences of Being Uninsured estimates the number of Americans who are dying prematurely due to lack of health coverage. It includes state-level data that are broken down by week, month, and year that were generated using the methodology originally developed by the Institute of Medicine. (June 2012) [Families USA]
Decoding Your Health Insurance: The New Summary of Benefits and Coverage provides national and state-level data on the nearly 173.5 million people with private insurance who will be helped by these plain-language summaries that are required by the health care law. (May 2012) [Families USA]
Good Business Sense: The Small Business Health Care Tax Credit in the Affordable Care Act provides national and state-level estimates of the number of small businesses that will be eligible for this tax credit and of how much the credits will be worth. It also includes data on how many workers could benefit as a result, broken down according to racial and ethnic group. (May 2012) [Families USA and Small Business Majority]
Addressing Barriers to Health Insurance Coverage among Children: New Estimates for the Nation, California, New York, and Texas explains scenarios that can make it harder for children to get health coverage, such as when children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but their parents are not. It also provides national and state-level data for California, New York, and Texas on the number of children facing these scenarios, and it discusses how the Affordable Care Act will affect these children. (May 2012) [Urban Institute]
Medicaid's Impact in the States: Helping People with Serious Health Care Needs examines how vital Medicaid is for residents with cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or heart disease or stroke. For these people, Medicaid can be the difference between life and death, and program cuts would put them at risk. Released in partnership with three other groups. (September 2011) [Families USA]
Jobs at Risk: Federal Medicaid Cuts Would Harm State Economies provides state-level data that show the devastating impact the House Republican budget proposal would have. The proposal's substantial Medicaid cuts would harm program enrollees and their families and lead to a loss of business activity and jobs in all states. | Calculator (June 2011) [Families USA]
Cutting Medicaid in the States: Harming Seniors and People with Disabilities Who Need Long-Term Care provides state-specific numbers on how many people would be affected by cuts to Medicaid long-term care spending, as well as how Medicaid helps families, state workers, and businesses. (May 2011) [Families USA]
House Republicans Propose to Slash Funding for Medicaid, Medicare, and Other Health Coverage Programs takes a closer look at how the recent budget proposal would harm seniors, children, and state economies, including state-specific numbers. (April 2011) [Families USA]
States Are Benefitting from Provisions of the Affordable Care Act lists the number of people in each state who are already benefiting from each of five provisions. The provisions include measures that are helping small businesses provide coverage to their workers, helping seniors get free preventive care, and protecting children with pre-existing conditions. | Table (March 2011) [Families USA]
Protecting Seniors and People with Disabilities: Why It Is Important to Preserve the Maintenance of Effort Requirement in the Affordable Care Act discusses how stripping the maintenance of effort requirement from the ACA will have negative consequences for the many people who depend on Medicaid by allowing states to change eligibility requirements. (February 2011) [Families USA]
Worry Less Spend Less: Out-of-Pocket Spending Caps Protect America's Families examines how the Affordable Care Act will protect insured people from high medical costs through new caps on out-of-pocket spending. It provides state-level estimates of how many residents will have spending that exceeds these caps and by how much, and it looks at how many of those residents work for small businesses. (February 2011) [Families USA]
How Health Reform Helps Communities of Color is a series of state-based fact sheets that discuss how provisions in the Affordable Care Act--both those for the general public and those specifically designed to eliminate health disparities--help communities of color in each state. (September-October 2010) [Families USA]
Lower Taxes, Lower Premiums: The New Health Insurance Tax Credit examines how this tax credit will help both insured and uninsured Americans. It provides data on the number of people eligible, the total dollars available, and on how it will help working families in particular. (September 2010) [Families USA]
A Helping Hand for Small Businesses: Health Insurance Tax Credits analyzes the health reform provision that provides tax credits to small employers to help them buy health coverage for their workers. This report, which was commissioned along with Small Business Majority, provides national and state-level data on the number of small businesses eligible for the credit in 2010, as well as the number eligible for the maximum tax credit. (July 2010) [Families USA]
State-Based Advocacy As a Tool for Expanding Children’s Coverage: Lessons from Site Visits to Six IAC Grantee States presents key findings from six states (AR, CO, IA, OH, TX, WA) that received grants from the Insuring America’s Children: States Leading the Way (IAC) program, which supports state advocates working to expand children’s health coverage in 16 states. The report details effective strategies used by advocates in each state according to the state’s political and economic climate, providing a roadmap for advocates around the country working to expand children’s health coverage. (July 2010) [Center for Studying Health System Change, Mathematica, and the Urban Institute]
Strategic Engagement of Policymakers Is Key to Advancing a Children’s Health Care Coverage Policy Agenda looks at how children’s health advocates in seven states (AR, CO, IA, OH, RI, TX, and WA) established strong relationships with policy makers in order to move their agendas forward. These advocates’ experiences provide useful lessons for other advocates pursuing expansions in health coverage in their state. (July 2010) [Center for Studying Health System Change, Mathematica, and the Urban Institute]
Beyond Affordability: The Impact of Nonfinancial Barriers on Access for Uninsured Adults in Three Diverse Communities looks at the types of nonfinancial barriers to health care faced by low-income, uninsured adults and how nonfinancial and financial barriers interact. The survey of low-income, uninsured adults in California, Maine, and Texas suggests that, while financial barriers are the most common, many uninsured adults also face nonfinancial barriers to health care. (June 2010) [Journal of Community Health] Subscription Required
Health Reform: New Opportunities for States to Invest in Home- and Community-Based Services is a series of state-specific fact sheets that explore the new options for states to expand home- and community-based services through the health reform law and the reasons why expanding this type of services is a good idea. (Summer 2010) [Families USA]
Health Reform: Help for Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions discusses how, under health reform, no one will be denied coverage, charged a higher premium, or sold a policy that excludes coverage of essential benefits because of pre-existing conditions. The report presents the number of Americans with diagnosed pre-existing conditions who, absent reform, would be at risk of being denied coverage in the individual insurance market. It breaks down this number by age, income, and race. (May 2010) [Families USA]
How Health Reform Helps the People of Texas looks at the many benefits that health reform will bring to the state, including cracking down on insurance company abuses, ending runaway premiums, and providing financial security. (May 2010) [Families USA]
Health Coverage in Texas: How Will Health Reform Help? discusses the major gaps in Texas's health coverage system and how health reform will address these gaps and help Texans, including the insured, the uninsured, people in Medicare, and small businesses. (March 2010) [Families USA]
Lives on the Line: The Deadly Consequences of Delaying Health Reform examines what would happen if Congress fails to pass health reform. Specifically, it provides national and state-level estimates of the number of deaths that would occur due to lack of health coverage if reform doesn't pass. It also quantifies how many Americans died due to lack of health coverage since the last effort to pass reform in 1994. (March 2010) [Families USA]
Guides to Finding Health Coverage: Texas Millions of Americans have no health insurance, and finding health insurance can be difficult. If you are looking for coverage, this guide can help point the way. Whether you have recently lost your job, are an early retiree, or have a serious medical condition, this guide includes numerous resources that may help you find the coverage you need. (Updated 2009) [Families USA]
The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas Town Can Teach Us about Health Care explores the reasons why health care costs are significantly higher in some areas of the country than in others, and it reveals that quality of care is not necessarily related to overall cost. The essay cites overuse of medical services, the diagnostic process, and the financial incentives and rewards doctors receive as a few of the key reasons behind the high cost of health care in some parts of the country. (June 2009) [The New Yorker]
The Uninsured: A Closer Look–Texans without Health Insurance examines how many state residents were uninsured during 2007-2008. The report also takes a closer look at the number of uninsured, who they are, and how long they were uninsured. It mirrors the data in our national report, Americans at Risk: One in Three Uninsured. (March 2009) [Families USA]
Premiums versus Paychecks: A Growing Burden for Texas's Workers. The impact of changes in employer-based health insurance premiums and earnings in Texas. (October 2008) [Families USA]
Bad Medicine: The President's Medicaid Regulations Will Weaken Texas's Economy States are facing a recession and reduced revenues. In 2007, the Bush Administration issued seven new regulations that together will strip an estimated $50 billion in federal funds from states over the next five years. These state-specific reports quantify the harm that these regulations will cause to state economies in terms of lost federal dollars, business activity, jobs, and wages. (April 2008) [Families USA]
Dying for Coverage in Texas For the more than 47 million Americans who are uninsured, lack of health insurance can have dire consequences: medical debt, missed care, and even premature death. This first-ever state-specific report examines the number of deaths due to lack of health insurance. (April 2008) [Families USA]
When an Apple A Day Isn't Enough: Students in Texas Speak Out about Health Care contains the winning essays from the "When an Apple a Day Isn't Enough" national essay contest as well as basic information about why health insurance matters for children. [Campaign for Children's Health Care]
Guide to Finding Health Insurance Coverage: Millions of Americans have no health insurance, and finding health insurance can be difficult. If you are looking for coverage, this guide can help point the way. Whether you have recently lost your job, are an early retiree, or have a serious medical condition, this guide includes numerous resources that may help you find the coverage you need. (Updated March 2007) [Families USA]
No Shelter from the Storm: Texas's Uninsured Children. This fact sheet takes a closer look at uninsured children in Texas—who they are and what kinds of services they miss out on as a result of being uninsured. Written by Families USA for the Campaign for Children's Health Care. (September 2006) [Families USA]
Complaints made against HMOs and insurance companies and the actions taken in each case are posted on the state's Department of Insurance Web site.
The Patient's Assistance League (PAL) is the membership division of Texas Health Education Assistance Resources and Training (Texas HEART). This nonprofit consumer advocacy organization has pushed for legislation that established an ombudsman program in Texas.
The Texas Healthy Kids Corporation (THKC) is a nonprofit organization, established as a result of House Bill 3, passed by the 75th Texas Legislature, to make affordable health insurance available to 1.3 million uninsured Texas children.
Every Child Equal: What Texas Parents Want from Children's Medicaid. This study from the Center for Public Policy Priorities finds that Texas sill has a long way to go in making its medicaid program work for Texas parents. [The Center for Public Policy Priorities]
Selected changes to current Medicare policies and practices could help ensure further access to health care and contribute to financial security for the nearly 200,000 Medicare beneficiaries displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Displaced by Hurricane Katrina: Issues and Options for Medicare Beneficiaries identifies issues and challenges for individuals on Medicare who were affected by Hurricane Katrina and offers options to address the problems they have encountered. The brief also identifies areas to be considered in future disaster planning efforts. (November 2005) [The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured]
NACHRI, in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), has released 2005 updates of their state-specific Medicaid fact sheets. These fact sheets detail the importance of the Medicaid program to the health care of children in every state, as well as the critical role children's hospitals and pediatricians play in serving all children. Click here for a map that will take you to information specific to your state. (July 2005) [National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI)]
Paying a Premium: The Added Cost of Care for the Uninsured in Texas: A fact sheet with state-level data showing the dollar impact on private health insurance premiums of care provided to the uninsured. (June 2005) [Families USA]
Medicaid Cuts Are Bad Medicine: This fact sheet describes how Medicaid helps your state's economy, supports the state's health care infrastructure, provides essential health care to the most vulnerable residents, and reduces the number of uninsured. (January 2005) [Families USA]
The Uninsured: A Closer Look: A fact sheet with state-level data from One in Three: Non-Elderly Americans without Health Insurance, 2002-2003. en español (June 2004) [Families USA]
Good Medicine for State Economies, 2004 Update: Medicaid provides essential health care services for an estimated 51 million people of all ages and economic classes. Medicaid also plays a unique role in stimulating state economies. This report provides national and state-level data on the effects of Medicaid spending on state business activity, employment, and employee earnings. These updated numbers can be used to predict the economic impact of potential state Medicaid spending increases or cuts in fiscal year 2005.| Medicaid Calculator with updated figures (May 2004) [Families USA]
Who's Uninsured in Texas and Why? is a four-page fact sheet providing information on the uninsured population in the state -- their numbers and characteristics and some of the reasons they are uninsured. (November 2003) [Families USA]
What the Immigrant Provisions of the Senate Prescription Drug Bill Mean to Texas (July 25, 2003) [Families USA]
Families USA has prepared state fact sheets that spell out the different amounts of help the House and Senate Medicare prescription drug bills would provide to low-income beneficiaries. Click here for this state's fact sheet. (July 2003) [Families USA]
Simplified Eligibility for Children's Medicaid in Texas: A Status Report at Nine Months describes the initial success of Texas' new law, which removes barriers to children's Medicaid participation. It provides the baseline information needed to observe and interpret how the next phase of implementation, the EPSDT mandate, will enhance or undermine the goal of broader coverage of Medicaid-eligible children in Texas. (February 2003) [The Kaiser Family Foundation]
Texas Public Policy Survey on Health Care presents the results of a survey of health coverage and the impact of the Latino population on health care in the state. Among the survey results is that fewer Texans have health coverage than the national average (77 percent vs. 82 percent), and only 57 percent of Latinos in the state have health coverage. In addition, Texans endorse a single-payer, national health plan in greater numbers than the rest of the country (52 percent vs. 40 percent). (August 2002) [The University of Houston]
IROs Independent Review Organizations: Consumers Gain Needed Care When Unaffiliated Medical Experts Review Health Plan Denials evaluates the effectiveness of the independent review process that is used when health management organizations (HMOs) deny coverage for treatments and procedures. The report revealed that over 50 percent of appeals were overturned, resulting in coverage of previously denied health benefits. (May 2002) [Consumers Union]
Medicaid and State Budgets: An Overview of Five States' Experiences in 2001 presents a review of the role of Medicaid in the budgets of five states: Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, and Texas. In it, state-level researchers and policy experts from those states describe their state's Medicaid programs and overall fiscal situations, explain recent trends in Medicaid spending, and identify their state's responses to growing fiscal pressure in their Medicaid budgets. (March 2002) [The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured]
Children's Eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP: A View from 2000 presents estimates of Medicaid and SCHIP eligibility for children up to age 17 using the eligibility rules in place as of July 2000. The results are based on data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families. The Survey found that eligibility varied tremendously across states, and the brief includes state-specific data for 13 states: AL, CA, CO, FL, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, TX, WA, WI. (March 2002) [The Urban Institute]
Recent Changes in Health Policy for Low-Income People in Texas Through interviews with state officials, consumers, and health care providers, as well as reviews of health care publications and Web sites, this report describes how Texas finances health care, specifically with regards to Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. (March 2002) [The Urban Institute]
Health Care Access for Uninsured Adults: A Strong Safety Net Is Not the Same as Insurance examines the extent to which differences in the safety-net environment account for differences in access to and use of health care by the uninsured. The brief draws on representative samples of the population from 13 states (AL, CA, CO, FL, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, TX, WA, WI) and focuses on low-income adults and on residents of metropolitan areas. (January 2002) [The Urban Institute]
State Profiles of Health Insurance, Access, and Use is based on the 1999 National Survey of America's Families and provides basic state- and national-level data in easy-to-use tables. These tables break down the type of health insurance people have according to age, income, sex, race/ethnicity, family structure, family work status, firm size, and country of origin. Separate profiles for each of the 13 states studied (AL, CA, CO, FL, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NY, TX, WA, and WI) also include characteristics of the uninsured, as well as a description of Medicaid and SCHIP enrollees. (January 2002) [The Urban Institute]
Go Directly to Work, Do Not Collect Health Insurance: Texas is one of the states studied in this report, which provides documentation of the health coverage effects of welfare reform on low-income parents. (June 2000) Families USA]
Deep in the Heart of Texas: Uninsured Children in the Lone Star State discusses child health insurance expansion in Texas, one of the last states to decide whether it would take full advantage of the SCHIP program. Press Release (February 1999) [Families USA]
Securing Our Future: Using The 2000-01 Budget to Invest in The People of Texas: This report presents the Center's position on how state tax receipts, payouts from the tobacco settlement, and the federal welfare block grant (TANF) should benefit Texans through changes in Medicaid and other services. (February 1999) [The Center for Public Policy Priorities]
Comments on State of Texas Draft State Plan Amendment, State Child Health Plan under Title XXI of the Social Security Act (February 1999) [The Center for Public Policy Priorities]
Assessing The New Federalism State Reports:Texas is one of 13 states discussed in this report, which tracks the delivery of health and social services to low-income residents following changes in welfare law. [The Urban Institute]
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