Compared to Americans nationwide, fewer Texans can afford to buy health insurance–58% of Texans who lack insurance say it's because they can't pay for the coverage. (Photo: iStock)
More than half of adult Texans opted out of health care services during the first year of the pandemic. According to a HealthCareInsider survey, these were the most commonly skipped services from February 2020 through February 2021:
- Dental, 29%
- Vision, 24%
- Preventive health, 19%
- Emergency room, 11%
Thirty-nine percent said they opted out because of the cost, which is 7% higher than the national response.
Recommended For You
"The reality is when you have a large uninsured population, you're going to see people avoid seeking health care due to cost," said Timothy Callaghan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Texas A&M School of Public Health. "For the most part, they seek out emergency room care or some sort of clinic that accepts individuals without health insurance, which often results in very large out-of-pocket costs. The process becomes infinitely harder to navigate if you don't have health insurance."
The cost of health care is a major concern for many Texans:
- 21% of adults lack insurance
- 18% ranked medical bills as their number one health care expense, compared to only 15% of people nationwide
- 11% said prescription drugs are their leading health care expense, compared to just 8% of respondents nationwide
- 36% of Texan adults say they carry medical debt, compared to just 28% of all adults
- 32% of Texans also said they had experienced a surprise medical bill in the past year. Only 28% of national respondents said the same.
Compared to Americans nationwide, fewer Texans can afford to buy health insurance–58% of Texans who lack insurance say it's because they can't pay for the coverage. That's five percentage points higher than the number of U.S. adults who say they're uninsured because they can't afford it.
Texans also subscribe to national health insurance programs at far lower rates than the national average:
- Only 7% are on Medicaid, compared to 12% nationally.
- 20% are signed up for Medicare, with is 4% below the national average.
- Texas is one of 12 states that have not adopted the Medicaid expansion.
"Pundits have long hypothesized that Texas will turn purple, but you'd have to have a blue legislature and receptive governor for a Medicaid expansion," Callaghan said. "I don't see that happening given the many state representatives who oppose the Affordable Care Act. Many legislators still see the ACA as something associated with Obama, and many conservative Texans wouldn't be happy with that."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
