If Texas Is Going to Lead

I took my husband to the ER earlier this week. He’d been sick for days and just kept getting worse.

Thankfully, he’s okay. And thankfully, we have good health insurance through his employer.

But as we sat in the ER while his doctor ordered test after test, scans, and labs, I found myself thinking about how different that experience might feel without good insurance. Would we have waited another day? Would we have wondered whether things were really bad enough to justify the cost - whatever it was?

There’s no time to ask those questions when your child needs emergency care. You get the help they need and figure out the rest later. Eventually, the bill comes.

As nurses and doctors came in and out of our room, I imagined other families facing that moment with far less certainty than we had and what it would mean to build a Texas where - when something goes wrong - getting the care you need doesn’t also become a financial emergency.

We talk a lot about Texas as a leader, and we are. We’re attracting new industries, building massive infrastructure, investing in technology, and creating jobs. We’re home to some of the best doctors, researchers, hospitals, and medical institutions in the world.

There is so much to be proud of.

But we also have the highest uninsured rate in the country. Thousands of Texas children lose Medicaid coverage each year. And in rural communities, simply having insurance doesn’t always mean having access to a doctor or specialist close enough to actually use it.

None of this takes away from what Texas is getting right. It does, however, remind us that growth and opportunity depend on the foundations that support them: good schools, affordable child care, accessible health care, housing people can afford.

It’s hard to work and build a career when you’re sick. It’s hard to create financial security when an unexpected trip to the doctor can mean years of debt. And it’s hard for a child to learn and thrive when their family can’t get them the care they need.

Our leaders like to tout “growth” and “opportunity,” pointing to the stats that show Texas is succeeding. And I believe in both. But I also believe we should measure progress by what growth and opportunity make possible in people’s everyday lives. And that’s where Congress matters, because health care doesn’t have to be this expensive or this complicated.

Congress can strengthen the Affordable Care Act, lower prescription drug costs, protect Medicaid, strengthen rural hospitals and clinics, and make sure eligible children don’t lose coverage because of bureaucratic barriers. We can do more to hold insurance companies and health care corporations accountable as costs rise year-over-year without care improving.

I want Texas to lead. I want us to keep innovating, keep creating jobs, keep building new industries. And I want us to be just as ambitious about making sure every Texan can afford and access the health care they need.

My husband was fortunate. We had insurance. We got the care we needed. He’s on the mend. Every Texan should have that same chance.

Texas has an opportunity to lead - and not just in innovation and growth, but in building a future where everyone is healthy enough and secure enough to be part of it.