WASHINGTON –Texans might continue to be in the dark regarding benefits under the new health care law because outreach efforts are focusing on the 24 states participating in Medicaid expansion and state-based insurance exchanges. Texas is not among them.
Gov. Rick Perry cited expensive costs for the state when deciding not to participate in either program. As a result, 22 percent of Hispanics in Texas will be uninsured without the Medicaid expansion, according to the Urban Institute’s American Community Survey.
“I’m sure the Hispanic community is just as confused as the rest of us as to the state of health care reform,” said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas. “The Obama administration still has not clarified many of the rules that will govern the new health care system, and the ones they have clarified seem to be continually changing. This unpredictable situation makes it impossible for families and businesses, whether Hispanic or otherwise, to make smart and informed health care decisions.”
Two-thirds of Hispanics in the U.S. said they do not have enough information about the health reform law to understand how it will affect them, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll. Texas, which is not participating in Medicaid expansion or state-based exchanges, has one of the largest populations of Hispanics in the U.S.
“We can’t pretend all is rosy,” said Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, a member of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s Advisory Committee on Minority Health, in a meeting Tuesday. “I don’t think this communication plan is working.”
Jessica Stephens, policy analyst for the Kaiser Family Foundation, acknowledged that coverage gaps would remain for poor adults in states that do not expand Medicaid, such as Texas.
“Don’t exclude the poorest states with the highest population of Hispanics like Texas,” said Carrasquillo about the lack of marketing among Hispanic populations.
Special funding known as navigator grants, which require at least one community-based nonprofit to operate at the federal level, will become operational in Texas around September or October, according to Kelly Dinicolo, technical adviser at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These nonprofits will provide in-person help and enrollment opportunities.
Dinicolo and other officials said their agencies have begun to do some advertising in Texas, but mainly through online marketing because it is easier to target a younger demographic. For those who do not have access to online information, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services announced a partnership with libraries to help people navigate the health reform changes.
The newly launched information website about health care reform, www.Healthcare.gov, has also launched a Spanish version, www.CuidadoDeSalud.gov, where Spanish speakers can find out more information about what changes to expect.