What Obamacare has done for Texas.

State of Texas: What Obamacare Has Done for Texas

by and

A version of this story ran in the December 2015 issue.

As Obamacare enters its third year, we’re getting a clearer picture of how the landmark health insurance law is faring in a state that’s been extraordinarily hostile to it. The good news: From 2013 to 2014, the percentage of Texans without insurance dropped from about 22 percent to 19 percent. The bad news: Texas remains No. 1 in the nation for the total number of uninsured (more than 5 million) and has the highest rate of uninsured. A closer look shows that some areas, especially urban counties, are making a big dent in the number of uninsured, while others have low enrollment rates and stubbornly high uninsured rates.

Joanna Wojtkowiak

is an Observer reporter (and former intern) covering women's health, reproductive health and health care access across the Lone Star State. Before joining the Observer, she was a staff news writer at the San Antonio Current. She holds an MA in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and BA in journalism and Spanish from UT-Arlington, where she worked for three years on her college newspaper. After graduate school, she dipped her toe in public policy communications at the Center for Public Policy Priorities. When she's not at work, she's probably training for her next marathon. You can contact her at [email protected].

Hannah McBride, a bike commuter and Topo Chico guzzler, is an editorial fellow at the Observer. Previously, she wrote for the Boston Globe and screened calls for NPR's Car Talk.

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