Texas’ healthcare crisis during the coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the need to expand Medicaid, while also boosting poll numbers for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
No Democratic candidate has won the state since president Jimmy Carter in 1976, but recent polls show Biden trailing president Donald Trump by just one point in Texas and even overtaking the president in five out of eight polls conducted by FiveThirtyEight.
Healthcare coverage might just be the deciding factor for Texas in the upcoming presidential election, Democrats say. Biden’s signature campaign pledge to build on the Affordable Care Act aims to expand coverage to 97% of Americans with a proposed “Medicare-like” public option. The plan would also cap premiums at 8.5% of the beneficiary’s income, down from the current 10%.
With the highest uninsured population in the country, Texas was already in a weak position when the pandemic hit. Since then, the uninsured rate has gone from one in five to one in three as an estimated 659,000 Texans lost their employer-provided health insurance in the economic fallout from COVID-19.
”The issue here is that the American people have dialed 911 and Donald Trump has hung up the phone on them,” state representative Armando Martinez said during a Facebook Live event hosted by Texas Democrats.
Texas lawmakers don’t represent their constituents’ health care concerns, data shows
Data shows the majority of Texans (64%) support Medicaid expansion, while 88% support protections for pre existing medical conditions. However, despite data that shows what their constituents want, Texas lawmakers have tried repeatedly to eviscerate the Affordable Care Act.
As coronavirus cases surged in the state in June, Texas asked the Supreme Court to overturn Obamacare, which would eliminate protections for the 10.7 million Texans with preexisting conditions and raise healthcare costs for the elderly.
People are growing frustrated with lawmakers who don’t represent their interests, which may explain Biden’s unexpected climb in Texas poll numbers, said Sima Ladjevardian, a candidate for the House of Representatives. Ladjevardian is an Iranian-born lawyer turned political activist who is running against incumbent rep. Dan Crenshaw, who represents District 2.
“People are all fired up and they want somebody who represents them, who fights for healthcare,” she said.
Sima Ladjevardian, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, is running on a healthcare platform against Republican incumbent
A cancer survivor who immigrated to the US during the Iranian Revolution, she is running on a healthcare platform in a race closely watched by political commentators. If she wins, Ladjevardian would be the first Iranian-born politician to be elected to national office, while taking back a Congressional district that has been Republican-led since 2005.
“He has been trying to gut health care during this pandemic, spewing lies and disinformation, not caring about what anybody in this district is feeling and just pandering to our president,” she said of her opponent.
Crenshaw, a former US Navy SEAL, ran on a platform promising to lower prescription drug prices, only to vote against a Democrat-proposed bill that would enable Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers for lower prices. He subsequently wiped the campaign pledge from his website.
Hospitals across the state approached ICU capacity in July, as cases surged from Texas’ premature reopening ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Houston hospitals were so overwhelmed they were forced to treat COVID patients in the ER as healthcare workers scrambled to add ICU beds. Ninety-four percent of ICU beds are currently occupied, according to a dashboard updated daily by the Texas Medical Center. Twenty-one percent of those beds are being used by COVID patients.
Many uninsured Texans have refused ambulance services even after calling 911, said Robert Lopez, a firefighter in Mission, TX, who spoke at the recent Democratic National Convention.
“You can tell they’re very ill and you have to convince them they need care, and that they’ll find a way to pay for it later,” said Lopez.
Robert Lopez, a firefighter in Mission, TX, spoke at the Democratic National Convention.
He added that ambulance companies in Mission reported response times of 1-2 hours during the peak of the pandemic because hospitals were full and began turning patients away.
Research shows that states with expanded Medicaid coverage reduce the financial burden on hospitals by lowering the uncompensated care that hospitals provide, while also helping rural hospitals survive.
Minorities have been most heavily impacted by COVID-19 in Texas and across the country, and they are also the least likely to have health insurance. In Texas, 30% of Latinos are uninsured. Ladjevardian says minorities and voters who support expanded Medicaid are key to ensuring Biden wins the state of Texas.
“Forty percent of our population is Latino, and they represent 60 percent of uninsured Texans. We have to address this issue, and Joe Biden understands that we have to expand the Affordable Care Act and help everybody who’s hurting.”
