‘Obamacare’ and you: Resistance in Texas, where many are uninsured

For Tatum and thousands like him, the Affordable Care Act and the health insurance exchanges offer hope. Almost one in four Texans — more than 6 million residents — are uninsured, the highest rate in the nation, according to the Census Bureau. The Affordable Care Act could halve the Texas number by next year, according to a recent study by the Hobby Center for the Study of Texas at Rice University.

Welcomed by many residents and scorned by others, the law has been vilified by Texas’ Republican leaders. Gov. Rick Perry has led the charge, criticizing the legislation as bad policy and the health insurance exchanges it creates as lacking appropriate funding. Texas, along with 26 other states, has opted not to set up a state-run exchange to market health coverage to the uninsured. For states with leaders who disagree with the initiative, it’s the best way to protest the Washington directive. In these cases, the federal government will run the exchanges.

Texas would be better off receiving block grants from Washington to help the uninsured rather than being forced to participate in a federal system, says state Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, an outspoken critic of Obamacare who has been a state senator since 2007.

“We’re smarter about Texas than Washington is,” he says. “This is the worst legislation I’ve ever seen from the federal government.”

Despite the resistance from state leaders, grass-roots groups across the state are scrambling to inform Texans about the exchanges. Foundation Communities, an Austin-based group that helps low-income residents with their taxes, has set up two enrollment centers to help residents sift through the benefits of the law, says Elizabeth Colvin,a director of the group.

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