If you don’t have health insurance, this may be the last year you can find less expensive coverage

Am I the only one? When I have an annual checkup scheduled with my doctor, in advance of it, I kind of try to clean up my act, like getting some extra sleep, maybe improving my diet some more, and getting in some more exercise as well. Also, I can kind of spike the numbers and make those lab results look a little bit better. Now, before anyone gets preachy on this, I know I'm trying to do those things year-round now so that I don't just look healthy on paper. On the subject of annual health checkups and spiking numbers, last January, Texas did its thing. We saw more people who didn't have health insurance get it thanks to a new record enrollment in the healthcare marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. Will we top that all-time high this time around, though? Don't know that yet, but enrollment is open again until January 15th. And these numbers lag a little bit, but as of this latest update, here's how many people here in Texas have picked an ACA health plan. Whether we set a new high mark will depend on how many more Texans sign up between there and January 15th. There are plenty of people who could, because even though we've seen a gradual decline in the number of uninsured, and even with a years-long trend of growing health plan enrollment under the ACA, including that record that we set last year, this state by far holds the designation as the most uninsured in the country. These numbers lag as well, but in 2023, there were 4,869,500 uninsured people here. That was 16.3% of this state's population. The national uninsured rate was less than half of that. Now, let's look at a map here. The darker shade of purple here, the more uninsured. And look at all of that deep purple in rural Texas and all along the border down into the Rio Grande Valley. Not good there. But several of the big cities here are also really running up the numbers of uninsured. Looking at the 25 most populated metros in the country, in 2023, DFW and the Houston area had the highest percentage of seniors without health coverage. And DFW, Greater Houston, and the San Antonio area had the three highest percentages of uninsured people in the age groups of 19 and under and 19 to 64. Just a reminder, to anyone who doesn't have health insurance, you may qualify for big premium reductions if you sign up for coverage under the ACA. We're going to get into that ahead on Daybreak Tomorrow and discuss why this could be the last sign-up period in which we see those big subsidies for people who are getting health insurance this way. I have more info in my article posted today at Jason Wheeler TV on Facebook, Threads, and Blue Sky to keep you covered right on the money.