Like the rest of the country, Texas health insurance is going through the ringer, facing austere regulations, threats to Medicaid and financial mandates passed down by the current administration.  While Texas has mostly opposed ObamaCare and the threat it poses to affordable Texas health insurance, it seems that now even the men and women who championed and passed the legislation are starting to back away from its spotlight.

In March, President Obama told House Democrats that he was confident that passing health care reform would be a smart political move.  But now, with the majority of Americans actually opposing the reforms, Democrats are hard pressed to find a sympathetic ear when extolling the virtues of ObamaCare. And many are even claiming now that the bill has taken a turn away from the legislation they initially passed.

In an attempt to smooth things over with voters prior to mid-term elections, Democrats are taking a new stance on their messaging surrounding ObamaCare.  Families USA, a liberal health care advocacy organization, hosted a conference call with Democrats and other allies, urging them to communicate the benefits of health care reform via personal stories, rather than facts and statistics.

The WSJ reports that Families USA advised democrats to “Keep claims small and credible; don’t overpromise or spin what the law delivers…’to don’t’ items include offering a long list of benefits or claims that the law will reduce costs and the deficit, even as voters are concerned about rising health care costs and believe that costs will continue to rise.”

That’s a far cry from last year and earlier this year when the administration rattled off facts and figures explaining how ObamaCare would insure millions more Americans while simultaneously lowering costs.  As more and more people reject this irresponsible legislation, the administration is forced to focus on human interest stories as a last ditch effort to swing some favor their way.  Human interest stories are nice, but they don’t lower costs, incentivize businesses to insure their employees or stimulate economic growth.

So now, like the rest of the country, Texans will witness the ObamaCare juggernaut steamroll their Texas health insurance, as Democrats attempt to remove themselves from the scene of the crime.

Medicaid patients aren’t popular among doctors, who receive state-subsidized fees significantly lower than traditional market value for their services.  And with provider fees being trimmed another one percent on September 1^st, the amount of doctors accepting Medicaid is expected to drop, damaging the state’s delivery of health care to the poor who rely on this form of Texas health insurance.

According to the Dallas Morning News:

The 1 percent trim to provider fees that starts Sept. 1 sounds modest. But doctors, insurance industry officials and health care experts widely see it as the first of many hits coming to doctors’ wallets as Texas’ fiscal woes deepen.  State leaders’ instructions for agencies to identify additional 10 percent budget cuts in the next two-year budget cycle mean more fee cuts may come next summer.

Industry experts believe that further budget reductions could drive doctors from the state and result in more patients seeking emergency room care.  This would be an inauspicious beginning to federal health care reform, which, starting in 2014 will create huge new demands for care by putting more poor adults and children on Medicaid.  This bit of legislation is conservatively estimated to add 1.5 million Texans to Medicaid by 2015.  The number currently stands at about three million.

Expanding the rolls of Medicaid while reducing doctor reimbursements simply won’t work, as fewer doctors will accept these patients.  At the same time, health care reform will expand Texas health insurance rosters in general without expanding the amount of medical professionals to service the newly insured.

Medicaid is a great resource for people who can’t afford traditional Texas health insurance plans, but without the necessary medical network to support these patients, expansion may overburden our already weakened state.

Health care reform has already caused mass confusion, and now scam artists are capitalizing on consumer uncertainty and making matters worse.  Unscrupulous individuals and businesses are offering fake Texas health insurance to the unsuspecting public.  Cases seen to date include nonexistent companies soliciting insurance and insurance being offered by companies not authorized to operate in Texas.  In April alone, 26 cease and desist orders were issued against entities engaging in such practices.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, said in a letter to state insurance commissioners:

“Unfortunately, scam artists and criminals may be using the passage of these historic reforms as an opportunity to confuse and defraud the public…Media accounts indicate that fraudsters have gone door to door selling phony insurance policies,” she wrote. “Some have attempted to make dishonest profits by urging consumers to obtain coverage in a nonexistent ‘limited enrollment’ period that they falsely claim was made possible by the new legislation.”

Since these fake Texas health insurance plans are not backed by financial reserves, the insurers in question likely have no ability or desire to pay claims.  Consumers swindled by these scams may be left without insurance in a time of need.  To protect yourself from fraudulent insurance schemes, regulators have warned people to be wary of anyone claiming to be with the federal government and trying to sell you insurance.  Texas health insurance policies are sold and issued by companies, not government officials.  And be alert to sophisticated sales pitches. The Morning News notes that in some states, fraudulent sales representatives are attempting to sell a bogus product called an “ObamaCare Insurance Policy.”

Unfortunately, scam artists will always attempt to make a buck at the expense of confused consumers, so do what you can to protect your health and keep your finances secure.  If you have questions about health care reform, or need to obtain insurance, work with a licensed Texas health insurance broker, or contact a reputable, well-known health insurance carrier in your state.

During Obama’s posturing for health care reform, one of his biggest sound bites was telling us that, if we like our current Texas health insurance, we can keep it.  It was a recurring statement meant to sooth some fears regarding such a massive overhaul to our health care system.  And while it may be true that the government won’t technically restrict us from continuing with our preferred health insurers, the reality is that some employers will simply end our coverage.

Under the new laws, many employers can save money by dropping the Texas health insurance plans they provide to their employees.  Rather than subsidize comprehensive group plans, employers can encourage their workers to find their own health insurance through the government-run exchanges.  This will result in fines for companies with more than 50 employees, but the fines are expected to be significantly smaller than the cost of keeping a workforce insured.

The Dallas Morning News reports that, “in the case of Dallas-based AT&T Inc., the move could mean saving billions of dollars per year.”  AT&T paid about $2.4 billion last year in health insurance costs for its 283,000 workers.  If the company were to push all those workers onto government subsidized exchanges, it would only have to pay an annual penalty of $600 million. Those are some serious savings for the company, which employs more than 14,000 workers in the Dallas area alone.

And the ramifications of the new health care law may become a big issue for taxpayers as well.  According to calculations by Fortune magazine, “if half of all people covered by company plans get bumped to the exchanges, it would raise the price tag of the new law by $160 billion a year.”  So adding insult to injury, it’s likely that we’ll have to pay a premium for losing our preferred Texas health insurance plan.

It’s no secret that health care reform is going to be expensive.  The majority of changes don’t go into effect until 2014, but states are already estimating the cost to implement reforms.  For Texas, that cost equals $27 billion over ten years, according to Health and Human Services Commission chief Tom Suehs.

Suehs told lawmakers that part of the price tag goes toward adding about 2.1 million Texans to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and about $5.5 billion will be allocated to paying doctors and other primary care providers more, so they’ll see these patients.   “We’ve got to make sure we have the physician community out there that’s willing to participate in Medicaid,” said Suehs.

Texas Senator Bob Deuell, a physician by trade, applauded Suehs’ emphasis on making sure doctors participate in Medicaid and CHIP.  “Having insurance doesn’t mean you have access to health care,” said Deuell.

But Democrats have balked at the $27 billion figure, calling the number “sticker shock” and an unrealistic overestimation of future costs.  Regardless of the final price tag, ObamaCare is going to cost Texas vast sums of money.  Citizens should expect to pay higher taxes to pay for impending reforms, as well as higher Texas health insurance premiums, as insurers look to offset the steep costs associated with covering a larger network of individuals.

All we can do now is take steps to prepare for the looming changes and cross our fingers that the benefits of health care reform might outweigh the financial burden being placed on states and citizens alike.

For more on this story, see The Dallas Morning News report.