"Texas House votes down budget amendment aimed at giving health coverage to more uninsured Texans" was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, continues to be characterized by conservative politicians as being a disaster for Americans. Those criticizing it avoid detail, typically referring to the “skyrocketing premiums” and to two remarks made by President Obama: “If you like your doctor, you can keep him,” and “Everyone will save $2,500 on health care costs.” The reason that opponents of Obamacare avoid detail is that an examination of the data shows the health care law has done far more good than bad.

The Kaiser Family Foundation recently studied documents submitted by health insurance companies detailing Obamacare premium price changes and the justification for those changes. The study revealed that premiums were increased by an additional 7% to 38% over what they would have been due to action taken by President Donald Trump. Insurers are required by the health care law to reduce copayments, deductibles and maximum out-of-pocket costs for individuals and families with incomes less than 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).

By Melissa McChesney, Center for Public Policy Priorities The open enrollment period for health insurance is extended to December 31, 2017 for Texans who live in a disaster-affected area, or did when Hurricane Harvey hit. That extends the deadlien by two weeks from the regular open enrollment period for health insurance through the Obamacare Marketplace that ended Friday December 15.

No one questions the need to improve upon the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

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Catch up and get ahead with the EDGE for the week of Jan. 18, 2016 Affordable Care Act Enrollment Closing There’s an important deadline coming up and if you miss it, it could cost you. The window is open until Jan. 31 to enroll in or change your health insurance under the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare.

The government has opened a special health care enrollment period from March 15 to April 30 after some people who recently filed their tax returns were assessed a fee because they did not have health insurance during the 2014 calendar year as required by the Affordable Care Act.

Almost 970,000 Texans signed up for health plans through the Health Insurance Marketplace of the Affordable Care Act, and 86 percent of them received tax credits to reduce their monthly premiums, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Feb. 5, 2015. Insurance policies purchased by people with lower incomes also have lower deductibles and lower caps on out-of-pocket spending. Without insurance, a serious illness or accident can leave a person with a very large debt to pay back over many years or, even worse, bankruptcy. 

The window to enroll in an Affordable Care Act health plan is closing as the Feb. 15 deadline nears for Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment. The time crunch has an added concern for more than 220,000 uninsured residents in the San Antonio area who are still debating whether to continue without health care coverage or pay a penalty on 2015 income tax filings next tax season.