A New Hope

 

Here is a quick two question quiz:

1.      Who is Ohio’s current Attorney General?

2.      Who was Ohio’s last elected Attorney General?

This wasn’t a fair test.  My guess is that none of my readers knew the answer to #1.  Our current A.G. is Andy Wilson.  Our previous Attorney General, Dave Yost, won election in November 2018 and was sworn in January 2019.  He wanted to run for governor, but was pushed out of the way to make room for VivekRamaswamy.  Dave Yost scored a new job in the private sector and resigned his position on  June 7, 2026. 

Most of my readers live in Ohio, but I am certain that those of you living in other states would have the same challenge.  Yet we all know that for more than a decade, Ken Paxton has been the Attorney General of Texas.  We know because the lawsuits designed to overturn the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), the effort to take away all protections for those Americans who have preexisting conditions, the chief of demolition has been Ken Paxton.

Texas has long had the highest percentage of uninsured adults.  It is hard to put a price tag (both money or the emotional toll) on what it took to defeat Ken Paxton’s and Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s efforts to drag the rest of the country down to their state’s abysmal level of access to health care. 

This blog has detailed the struggle to fend off Texas since June of 2018.  That was the first of 37 posts, including today’s, to discuss the impact Texas was having on the rest of the country.  Texas vs. the United States was filed in February 2018.  We covered the Texas Lawsuit has it made its way through the courts.  The first step was their December 2018 lower court victory in a Texas court.  The (first) Trump administration celebrated:

 Sarah Sanders: "Obamacare has been struck down by a highly respected judge. The judge's decision vindicates President Trump's position that Obamacare is unconstitutional. Once again, the President calls on Congress to replace Obamacare and act to protect people with preexisting conditions and provide Americans with quality affordable healthcare. We expect this ruling will be appealed to the Supreme Court. Pending the appeal process, the law remains in place." 

There was no Trump Plan waiting to replace Obamacare.

There was no plan emanating from Texas. 

The ramifications of eliminating the PPACA without an alternative were discussed through the years as were the lack of interest by many in Congress or the White House.  There have also been positive posts, such as the day the Supreme Court tossed out the case in June 2021.  There have been twists and turns along the way, but Texas is still dead last when it comes to adults with health insurance.

There is a new hope in Texas.  Tuesday’s election results were decisive.  Texas has a new governor, Gina Hinojosa.  Ken Paxton, running for U.S. Senate, was handily defeated by James Telarico.  Change won’t happen overnight.  Meaningful change may take a year or more, but there is now the possibility that all Texans might one day have health insurance, the way the rest of the country accesses and pays for health care.  As a bonus, we will no longer be forced to waste taxpayer dollars to defend our citizens’ coverage.  We can’t recoup the money spent, but at least we won’t be forced to squander even more.  

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The doctor chose to not have health insurance for himself and his family.  This was about twenty years ago.  He only bought policies from me when he family members were traveling out of the country.  While in town they relied on Professional Courtesy.  Some of the doctors in the suburban facility treated each other and their families for free.

I thought of them while watching the election coverage over the last year.  The Senator from Kansas, Dr. Roger Marshall, has appeared a few times on these pages.  Dr. Marshall has had his empathy surgically removed.  I’m sure it was through Professional Courtesy since there is no way he would personally pay for health care.

On Tuesday we saw the defeat of a Senator/Doctor who has voted in Washington to cut the funding for health care, health care for the poor and middle class, while aggressively pursuing patients who owe him less than $100. 

Senator Marshall lost big on Tuesday.  But did we win?  We are allowed to have a new hope.

Dave

Health Insurance Issues With Dave

Picture – A New Hope – David L Cunix