Houston We Have A Problem

Yesterday, The Houston Comical ran an editorial chastising insurance companies for being unwilling to sell health insurance policies that did not provide the margins they desired. I guess that makes sense if your business model is in decline or you're a closet Marxist out of touch with the news reported in your own paper.

For instance

Here we learn the following from Elena Marks who is Houston Mayor Bill Whites Director of Health and Environmental Policy;

...the swelling ranks of the uninsured are severely stressing local hospital emergency rooms and driving up medical costs for those with insurance.

The census bureau reported yesterday that Texas leads the nation in the growth in its Hispanic Population.

This blog reported last year on some key facts about the uninsured in TX as noted below;

The Texas Health Institute, a nonpartisan health advocacy group, described them this way in a report that was released in January:
• They work. At least 72 percent live in households where one or more family members work full time.
• They are young. Twenty-three percent are children, and an additional 36 percent are between 18 and 34.
• They are not all poor. Forty percent of families without coverage have incomes of $40,000 a year or more.
• Geography matters. Almost half of the uninsured live in Texas' five largest urban centers, and Harris County leads the pack with about 1.1 million, according to state estimates.
• Ethnicity matters. Hispanics are three times more likely to be uninsured than whites; blacks are twice as likely.

So lets break this down for the Marxists at The Houston Comical Editorial board who could not even wait for May Day to bring us that observant editorial yesterday.

1. We have a growing population of uninsured Houstonians.


2. Our uninsured population has learned they can access free care at Houston Hospitals. Why pay a premium for health insurance when you get services for free at the ER?


3. The number of Hispanics in Houston is growing and they are three times more likely to be uninsured.

Insurance carriers have been offering low cost limited medical benefit policies for several years to allow for basic health coverage for a premium equal to two hours of weekly wages. Many employees still do not enroll. Why? See #2 above