The state of Texas was in the news when Governor Rick Perry announced that he will not expand the state’s Medicaid program. It isn’t easy to find eligibility requirements for Medicaid in Texas from the state’s websites.
I’ve been writing a series of blogs that give details about the eligibility requirements for Medicaid in individual states. Several states make it really easy to find out this vital information. Texas, however, is among the states that make it extremely difficult for a person to find out if he or she is eligible for Medicaid. You pretty much have to apply online, and hope for the best.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by this, considering other decisions that involve Medicaid that were made by legislators in Texas recently. Governor Rick Perry has announced that he will not be expanding the Medicaid program in Texas. The expansion would have given the state of Texas federal funding to cover low-income adults who are not disabled, are not pregnant, and do not have dependent children.
Medicaid, as you may know, is a public form of health insurance. It is designed to provide health insurance coverage for individuals and families who are low-income, and who cannot afford to purchase health insurance from a private company. Medicaid is funded, in part, by the federal government, and is also funded, in part, by an individual state.
In Texas, the Medicaid program is run by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. There is a link on that page that says “About HHSC”. Clicking on it will bring you to a page that says “The Page Cannot Be Found”.
To learn about the eligibility requirements for Medicaid in Texas, one must leave the Texas websites and go to one that is run by the federal government. The information here is a bit generalized, and may or may not be what Texas is actually using for eligibility requirements. However, it gives you a vague idea about who might qualify.
The first qualification is that a person must be a resident of the state of Texas. The person must also be a United States national, a United States citizen, or a legal alien. The person can also be a “permanent resident”, but it is unclear whether that refers to residency in Texas or in the United States.
The person must be “in need of health care / insurance assistance”, and must have a financial situation that can be characterized as low income or very low income. This would be the part that usually would list the percentage of the federal poverty level that the person must fit into. The exact percentage can differ from one state to the next. What’s the percentage in Texas? It isn’t listed.
Pregnant women who meet the above eligibility requirements may be able to qualify for Medicaid. So can parents of dependent children who are under the age of 19. A caregiver for dependent children under the age of 19 might also qualify, however the caregiver must be a relative of the child. Adults who are blind, who have a disability, or who have a family member in their household who has a disability might qualify. Adults age 65 or older might also be eligible.
Image by Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M on Flickr