Last night, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07) and State Representative Ann Johnson (HD-134) held a virtual town hall on expanding health care in Texas.  They discussed efforts at the federal and state levels to make health care more accessible and answered constituent questions.  

“As the pandemic has shown, keeping our communities healthy by expanding access to health care is essential.  Unfortunately, our state of Texas has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country.  This absolutely must be a priority at both the federal and state level to address,” said Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher.  “I am glad to partner with State Rep. Ann Johnson in these important efforts.” 

“I am grateful to Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher for her work to increase the amount of federal funding to states that expand access to health care,” said Representative Ann Johnson.  “Let's cover the more than one million uninsured Texans and bring home over $100 billion of federal funding to our state.” 

More than one in three people in Harris County under the age of 65 do not have access to health insurance, and Texas has the highest rate of uninsured people in the country and is ranked lowest in access to care.  In Congress, Congresswoman Fletcher’s legislation to increase funding for holdout states like Texas to expand Medicaid was signed into law as a part of the American Rescue Plan.  More than one million low-income Texans would be eligible for coverage under Medicaid expansion, including 223,700 in Harris County.  During last night’s town hall, Fletcher called on the Texas legislature to finally take up Medicaid expansion.  

In the Texas House, Representative Johnson is co-authoring legislation, House Bill 3871, to create a new program, Live Well Texas, that increases health coverage for at least 1.5 million Texans.