Medicaid expansion in Texas back in focus

Health care is back in the spotlight at the Texas Capitol with Medicaid expansion once again up for debate. Fox 7 Austin's Dennis De La Pena explains who qualifies and who gets left out. When it comes to health coverage in Texas, the numbers tell a stark story. Texas continues to lead the nation in both the total number and percentage of people without health insurance. At the heart of the debate, Medicaid. Unlike most other states, Texas has strict eligibility requirements. Here's where many people get caught off guard. Our state's Medicaid doesn't cover adults just because they're broke. Unless you are pregnant, have a qualifying disability, or raise dependent children, you're completely locked out. And for parents with children, the income cutoff is among the lowest in the country. That creates what experts call the coverage gap. An estimated three quarters of a million working Texans earn too much to qualify for state Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for financial assistance on the Affordable Care Act exchange. They're simply stuck. Under federal law, Washington pays 90% of the cost to expand Medicaid coverage to low-income adults. Supporters argue accepting those federal dollars would pump billions into struggling rural hospitals and cover hundreds of thousands of uninsured people. Opponents have long pushed back, arguing the expansion relies on an unsustainable amount of spending and may lead to even more problems for Texas. While incoming House leaders have already filed new bills to bring expansion forward, it won't happen overnight. With the Texas Senate maintaining a Republican majority, any proposal will face a steep, contentious path when lawmakers officially convene in January. In Austin, Dennis Della Pena, Fox 7 Austin News.