Texans like to brag; some of us even brag about being the biggest braggers. But not all of our brags turn out to be brag worthy.
Our Governor likes to brag about how “business- friendly” we are, meaning we often give away the farm to lure businesses to our state, and we ask very little in return. Heck, we’ll even pass laws against your competitors if you’re in the oil and gas bidness! Who cares if the grid collapses and folks die from the cold?
We brag that we’re “independent,” which often means we won’t go along with rules if we don’t like them but insist that others do as we say. Our Attorney General sues other states that dare to refuse his demands. Our Governor and Lieutenant Governor threaten lawmakers who listen to their constituents instead of the Big Boys. And our legislators cave or resign.
Now, in the midst of all the bragging about how important (or should we call it “useful”?) Texas is to Trump and his billionaire buddies, it might be worth mentioning some other facts about Texas you might not be aware of. These are actual facts that you can verify yourself, and then let me know if you think it’s fine that we continue to ignore them. I looked into where Texas ranks among the 50 states when it comes to the status of more vulnerable populations and general access to healthcare. I urge you to look for more categories because the ones I will mention here are only the tip of the iceberg. I challenge you to brag about Texas after you finish reading where we stand.
Texas ranks dead last, number 50, with 16.6% of Texans lacking any kind of health coverage. Similarly, we are number 50 in the rate of uninsured children, and number 48 in overall child health. On the score of overall child well-being, Texas ranks 43rd out of 50. These are children, remember? If they don’t start out healthy, how can they become healthy adults?
Texas ranks at the bottom of all states for access to mental health services. But hey, we do better at state spending on mental health: we’re up to 48th out of 50, spending $40.65 per person on mental health services. That is not a typo! Despite Governor Abbott placing the blame for mass shootings on poor mental health (so as not to jeopardize easy access to guns), we woefully ignore the commitment to actually do something about providing mental health services.
Regarding primary care services, from physicians per 100,000 residents to combined physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners per 100,000 residents, Texas sits at 48th out of 50 states. We don’t take care of our population but we’ll surely welcome businesses to move their workers here. Even if they have insurance to rely on, there still aren’t enough providers.
Our state’s spending per student in public schools has not increased since 2019, and we sit at 43rd among all states. Yet Abbott has threatened and bullied his way to the brink of approving private school vouchers, spending money that will be lost from public school coffers. If you think he has one iota of concern about providing quality public education to all the children of Texas, I ask you to provide some evidence of that. I’ll wait… Republicans somehow have distorted conservatism to imply that poor people have not tried hard enough to succeed and therefore don’t deserve support in lifting them up. I refuse to believe that all Texans share such a cruel and faulty idea! The inconvenient facts are left to obscurity, when in fact if we talked about this and demanded better from our legislators, we could shame them into doing something about it. We have the ability, but we lack the moral courage.
Studies have shown that people who receive support, not just financial but also emotional and practical, want the same opportunities as the rest of us and will work hard if given the chance. Without it, more people, adults as well as children, fall through the cracks every day, and each one of us is accountable for this travesty.
I saved one more statistic for last. It’s about the maternal mortality rate in Texas, and it’s the highest in the entire developed world. Think about that for a minute. Maternal mortality goes hand in hand with lack of health insurance. Texas is one of only ten states that has not allowed an expansion of Medicaid eligibility, even though the federal government provides for 90% of the cost. How does that make any sense except as cruelty?
If you don’t find this both devastating and outrageous, then there’s really nothing more to say about you. The rest of us need to face how we’ve allowed our elected officials to ignore significant segments of our population. Texas has a $24 billion budget surplus to work with this year. I urge you to pay attention to what our lawmakers do with it.
Susan Hull is a retired clinical psychologist, a citizen of the world and an Independent voter. She knows there are many of us that are just one lost paycheck or huge medical expense away from tragedy, and she knows that a state or a nation can be judged by how it cares for its most vulnerable citizens.
