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Low Cost Health Insurance for Low-Income Individuals in Texas: State Government and Private Carriers in Action
from: InsuranceDealTime.comTexas is the home of the some of the "largest" in the United States.
It is one of the densely-populated areas in the country, which has a population of around 22.8 million (second to the state of California in terms of population).
It is also one of the largest states in the country in terms of total area, with around 268,581 square miles or 695,522 square kilometers (second to the state of Alaska in terms of total land area).
Texas also boasts the "Six Flags" that have flown over its soil: the national flags of Spain, Mexico, and France (Fleur de Lis), the United States of America, the Republic of Texas, and the Confederate States of America (which existed from 1861 to 1865).
However, Texas also possess the largest number of uninsured population in the United States, which is now around 5.4 million individuals or 25 percent of state's total population, according to the State Comptroller's Office. The numbers are still increasing because of the substantial increase of immigrants in Texas without any health insurance coverage. Out of the 25 percent uninsured Texas population, 23.9 percent belongs to the non-elderly population. It is relatively higher compared to the national average of 15.5 percent uninsured Americans.
It is accounted to limited Medicaid coverage and a low percentage of individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance plan compared to the national average (58 percent against 66.1 percent). In addition, Texas also has fewer health care providers than the national average. For instance, there were 81 physicians per 100,000 Americans in 1994. On the other hand, there are only 61 physicians per 100,000 Texas populations.
To address the need for a low-cost health insurance in the Lone Star state of Texas, the state government as well as Texas-based health insurance companies formulated some measures to provide an easy access to low-cost health insurance plans for the uninsured population of Texas. On the part of the state government, the legislative department enacted the Texas Health Insurance Law, which has the following provisions:
- Provides for Texas Health Insurance Risk Pool that will sell major health care policies with prescription coverage to Texas residents with uninsurable medical conditions or commonly referred to as pre-existing conditions.
- Provides for CHIP or Children Health Insurance Program to offer low-cost health insurance plans for children of Texas-based families whose income is below the poverty level.
- Provides the health care needs of special children, especially those with chronic illness and developmental disabilities.
- Provides that most health insurance plans available, including low-cost ones, cover traumatic brain injury treatments as well as neurological and cognitive therapies and treatments.
On the part of the private health insurance providers, they also offer several alternatives such as HMO (health maintenance organization) wherein there is a limited coverage within the network of doctors and medical facilities that has existing contract with the HMO yet low-cost in the sense that you are exempted from paying deductibles.
With the aforementioned measures now in implementation, the Texas state government as well as different Texas-based health insurance companies addressed the problem of the growing numbers of uninsured individuals in the state. At last, low cost health insurance plans are now available especially to those low-income individuals and families living below the poverty level. Thanks to the government and private insurers for the immediate action.
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