An overwhelming majority of Texans support health insurance protections for people with pre-existing conditions and say state government should play a role in making sure the health care system works. Those are just some of the results of a new statewide EHF survey on Texas health policy issues.
The survey finds nearly nine in 10 Texans (88%) say they think health insurance companies should be required to provide coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions. The results include 93 percent of Democrats, 89 percent of independents, and 82 percent of Republicans who say coverage of pre-existing conditions should be mandatory.
Most Texans also think state government has a role to play in making sure the health care system works well. Nine in 10 (91%) say the state should play a major or minor role in a functioning health care system. A smaller percentage of Texans (82%) said that the federal government has a similarly important role in the health care system.
When it comes to overall spending priorities for state government, more than half (54%) of Texans say the state should increase spending on health care – similar to the shares who say the same about public safety (54%) and infrastructure (53%). The survey finds Texans only say they favor increased spending on public education (69%) more than health care.
“Texans are looking directly to state leaders to help solve some serious health care problems,” said Elena Marks, EHF’s president and CEO. “Whether it’s protecting coverage for pre-existing conditions or getting access to affordable care, it’s clear Texans want state lawmakers to do more to make the health care system work better, especially for those who need it the most.”
News Coverage on EHF’s 2019 Texas Health Policy Poll
- Forbes: Two-thirds of Texans Support Medicaid Expansion
- Texas Standard: Survey Suggests Majority of Texans Want Coverage For Pre-Existing Conditions
- Houston Public Media: Protections For Pre-Existing Conditions Joins Medicaid Expansion on Texans’ Healthcare Wishlist
- KUT Austin: Texas Is One Of Only 14 States That Haven’t Expanded Medicaid Despite Strong Public Support
- KXAN-TV Austin: Texas groups call for lawmakers to put Medicaid expansion to a vote
- Red River Radio: Poll Reveals More Texans Favor Medicaid Expansion
Majorities of Texans say top health priorities for the state legislature should be lowering costs of prescription drugs (60%), lowering health care costs (59%), increasing access to health insurance (57%), increasing funding for mental health programs (53%), and reducing the number of women who die from causes related to pregnancy or childbirth (51%).
Other key survey results:
- Almost six in 10 Texans (59%) say state government is not doing enough to help low-income adults access the health care they need
- Nearly two thirds (64%) support Medicaid expansion in Texas
- More than one third of Texans (35%) did not know if Texas had expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and 18 percent mistakenly believe that the state did expand the program
- Fewer than three in 10 (28%) Texans knew that the uninsured rate is higher in Texas compared to every other state and 20 percent of Texans thought the state had a lower uninsured rate than other states
These findings are the first report in a series drawing on a 2019 EHF survey of Texans on their views of health policy and experiences with health care costs. In 2018, EHF partnered with Kaiser Family Foundation for a similar survey and series of reports. Future reports will look at health care costs, access and experiences of the uninsured in Texas.
See the complete
2019 Texas Health Policy Poll
report
2019 Texas Health Policy Poll
report
