Valdez: Texas is most uninsured state in U.S.

Lupe Valdez, the former Dallas County sheriff nominated for governor by Texas Democrats, says health care will get muchneeded attention once she’s in charge.

Valdez was quoted in a New York Times news story as saying: “One in six Texans don’t have health care. We’re the most uninsured state in the U.S.”

It’s an exaggeration, we’d suggest, to say that all uninsured individuals don’t have any health care. As we concluded in a 2010 fact-check, many avenues exist to make care available — including paying out of pocket and going to hospital emergency rooms. Still, many people don’t get the care they need.

A slightly different 1-in-6 statement appears on Valdez’s campaign website: “1 in 6 Texans lack health insurance. The truth is, we’re already paying for universal healthcare, we are just doing it in the most expensive and inefficient (way) possible.”

Valdez, calling Republican Gov. Greg Abbott foolish for rejecting the option of expanding Medicaid in Texas as permitted by the Obamacare law, further says that as governor she’ll push to reverse his decision.

So, how does Texas rank in terms of people lacking health insurance?

Valdez’s campaign didn’t respond to our email asking for her backup data. But a September 2017 Census Bureau report estimated that in 2016, Texas had the nation’s greatest share of res-