PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New report: Texas Hispanics, women show largest reductions in rates of uninsured

2015-06-02
(Press-News.org) HOUSTON - (June 2, 2015) - Hispanics and women in Texas showed the largest percentage of reductions in rates of uninsured since enrollment began in the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace, according to a new report released today by the Episcopal Health Foundation and Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The report found that from September 2013 to March 2015, the percentage of Hispanics without health insurance fell 38 percent (from 39.1 percent uninsured to 24.3 percent), more than any other ethnic group. The percentage of uninsured women fell 32 percent (from 26.4 percent uninsured to 18 percent).

"Hispanics in Texas had the lowest rates of coverage before the ACA, which meant they had the most to gain from the act's Health Insurance Marketplace," said Elena Marks, president and CEO of the Episcopal Health Foundation and a nonresident health policy fellow at the Baker Institute. "In Texas, because so many of our residents are Hispanic, it's important that this group become insured to increase the overall rate of coverage across the state."

Women were more likely to be uninsured than men before the ACA, and the new report found that is still true, but the gap is closing. The survey found 16 percent of Texas men are now uninsured compared with 18 percent of women -- the gap was 6 percentage points in 2013.

As the authors reported earlier this year, the overall rate of uninsured Texans decreased from 24.6 percent to 16.9 percent from September 2013 to March 2015. The decreases in uninsured rates were not shared equally among all Texans, however. Texans with low incomes and low educational attainment experienced smaller reductions in the rates of uninsured than their peers who have higher income and are more educated.

The report found the uninsured rate of Texans earning from $16,000 to $45,000 fell 44 percent (from 21.1 percent uninsured to 11.7 percent) since 2013. However, for those earning below $16,000, the uninsured rate fell just 18 percent (from 49.7 percent uninsured to 39.9 percent), less than half as much.

The same was true for Texans with the lowest education levels. While high school graduates saw a 37 percent drop in the percentage of uninsured (from 27.2 percent uninsured to 17.2 percent), the rate for those who didn't graduate fell just 12 percent (from 40.5 percent uninsured to 35.7 percent).

"The likely explanation for this disparity is the fact that those with lower educational attainment are likely to earn less, and those with the lowest incomes were not eligible for subsidized insurance plans in the marketplace," said Vivian Ho, the chair in health economics at Rice's Baker Institute and director of the institute's Center for Health and Biosciences, a professor of economics at Rice and a professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. "For this population, unless and until there is some form of coverage expansion, likely within the Medicaid program, they are likely to remain uninsured.

The report also looked at the changes in rates of health insurance coverage for the same demographic groups in the U.S. as a whole. In some cases, such as the relative changes in rates of uninsured for people with income and low education levels, the patterns in Texas and the U.S. are the same.

Blacks experienced the greatest reduction in uninsured rates at the national level (by more than 5 percentage points). In Texas, blacks experienced the smallest decrease of any demographic group examined -- only 4.5 percent (0.7 percentage points) -- while Hispanics and whites experienced reductions fivefold greater.

The report is the 12th in a series on the implementation of the ACA in Texas co-authored by Marks and Ho.

INFORMATION:

The Health Reform Monitoring Survey (HRMS) is a quarterly survey of adults ages 18-64 that began in 2013. This issue brief is a summary of data extracted from the HRMS surveys in Texas administered between September 2013 and March 2015 with responses from 1,544 Texans.

It is designed to provide timely information on implementation issues under the ACA and to document changes in health insurance coverage and related health outcomes. Rice University's Baker Institute and the Episcopal Health Foundation are partnering to fund and report on key factors about Texans obtained from an expanded, representative sample of Texas residents (HRMS-Texas).

The HRMS was developed by the Urban Institute, conducted by GfK, and jointly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Urban Institute. The analyses and conclusions based on HRMS-Texas are those of the authors and do not represent the view of the Urban Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation or the Ford Foundation.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Marks, contact Brian Sasser, director of communications at the Episcopal Health Foundation, at bsasser@episcopalhealth.org or 832-795-9404.

To schedule an interview with Ho, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

Related materials:

Full survey report: http://bakerinstitute.org/research/change-insurance-status-adult-texans-demographic-group-march-2015

Episcopal Health Foundation: http://www.episcopalhealth.org

Marks bio: http://www.episcopalhealth.org/en/about/staff

Ho bio: http://bakerinstitute.org/experts/vivian-ho



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Hyperbaric hope for fibromyalgia sufferers

Hyperbaric hope for fibromyalgia sufferers
2015-06-02
HOUSTON - (June 2, 2015) - Women who suffer from fibromyalgia benefit from a treatment regimen in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber, according to researchers at Rice University and institutes in Israel. A clinical trial involving women diagnosed with fibromyalgia showed the painful condition improved in every one of the 48 who completed two months of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Brain scans of the women before and after treatment gave credence to the theory that abnormal conditions in pain-related areas of the brain may be responsible for the syndrome. Results of the study ...

Study explores how past Native-American settlement modified Western New York forests

Study explores how past Native-American settlement modified Western New York forests
2015-06-02
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A new study by University at Buffalo geographers explores how humans altered the arboreal make-up of Western New York forests before European settlers arrived in large numbers. The research looked at land survey data from around 1799-1814, and used this information to model which tree species were present in different areas of Chautauqua County, New York, at that time. The analysis placed hickory, chestnut and oak trees in larger-than-expected numbers near the historical sites of Native American villages, said co-author Steve Tulowiecki, who conducted ...

Reflection in medical education can lead to less burn-out

2015-06-02
MAYWOOD, Ill. - Drawing on its Jesuit Catholic heritage, Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine has long understood the importance of reflection in medical education as a key element in physician formation. With physician burnout on the rise, it is all the more integral for students to learn ways to engage better with the challenges faced in the medical profession. Stritch faculty members believe reflection is a fundamental tool to help students process and cope with the tremendous physical, emotional, and mental pressure that can accompany their vocation. These ...

McMaster researchers discover key to maintaining muscle strength while we age

2015-06-02
Hamilton, ON (June 2, 2015) - What causes us to lose muscle strength as we age and how exercise can prevent it from happening has never been thoroughly understood, but McMaster University researchers have discovered a key protein required to maintain muscle mass and muscle strength during aging. This important finding means new and existing drugs targeting the protein may potentially be used to preserve muscle function during aging. "We found that the body's fuel gauge, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), is vital to slow muscle wasting with aging," said Gregory Steinberg, ...

New study: Gut bacteria cooperate when life gets tough

2015-06-02
Researchers of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have discovered with the help of computer models how gut bacteria respond to changes in their environment - such as a decrease in oxygen levels or nutrient availability. Microorganisms that normally compete or overthrow one another can switch to a cooperative lifestyle when their living conditions change: They even start producing substances to make life easier for the other species, helping them to survive. The entire microbial community then stabilises - and together adapts ...

Is our first line of defense sleeping on the job?

2015-06-02
New Orleans, Louisiana - June 1, 2015 - The skin microbiome is considered our first line of defense against pathogens. Across our bodies, we are covered with a diverse assemblage of bacteria. However, the skin can be a harsh environment for beneficial bacteria to live on due to UV exposure, high salinity, and desiccation stress. Research being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology found that these suboptimal conditions may cause some bacteria to enter a dormant state, while other bacteria may simply die. In this study, Sarah Cummins ...

Oral bacterium possibly associated with systemic disease found in Alabama schoolchildren

2015-06-02
New Orleans, Louisiana - June 1, 2015 - Prevalence of a recently discovered serotype of oral bacterium, with a possible link to a number of systemic diseases, was found for the first time in a small cohort of African-American schoolchildren in a southwest Alabama town, according to research being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Streptococcus mutans serotype k, first discovered in Japan in 2004, has been linked to a number of systemic diseases, including bacteremia, infective endocarditis and hemorrhagic stroke. "However, the bacteria ...

Does Agion silver technology work as an antimicrobial?

2015-06-02
New Orleans, Louisiana - May 31, 2015 - The antibacterial effectiveness of Agion silver zeolite technology was tested on door handles across the Penn State Erie campus and after four years of sampling, a significant difference was observed between the bacterial populations isolated from silver versus control-coated door handles. This research is presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. "In our study we have analyzed the bacterial populations found on silver- and control-coated door handles within four different building on the Penn State ...

Scientists discover a protein that silences the biological clock

2015-06-02
A new study led by UC Santa Cruz researchers has found that a protein associated with cancer cells is a powerful suppressor of the biological clock that drives the daily ("circadian") rhythms of cells throughout the body. The discovery, published in the June 4 issue of Molecular Cell (and online now), adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting a link between cancer and disruption of circadian rhythms, while offering new insights into the molecular mechanisms of the biological clock. The ticking of the biological clock drives fluctuations in gene activity and protein ...

Saving money and the environment with 3-D printing

2015-06-02
A Northwestern University team has confirmed a new way to help the airline industry save dollars while also saving the environment. And the solution comes in three dimensions. By manufacturing aircrafts' metal parts with 3-D printing, airlines could save a significant amount of fuel, materials, and other resources. Led by Eric Masanet, the team used aircraft industry data to complete a case study of the life-cycle environmental effects of using 3-D printing for select metal aircraft parts, a technique that is already being adopted by the industry. The team concluded that ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Cercus electric stimulation enables cockroach with trajectory control and spatial cognition training

Day-long conference addresses difficult to diagnose lung disease

First-ever cardiogenic shock academy features simulation lab

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

[Press-News.org] New report: Texas Hispanics, women show largest reductions in rates of uninsured