Texas Loss

Residents of Texas hoping to have "free" help from government employees to find affordable health insurance are SOL.

A $2.8 million grant allowed the state to hire nine employees to staff a toll-free hotline. More than 6,000 Texans called in during the past year, seeking advice on how to find affordable coverage, or help filling out an insurance application, or fighting a denied claim.

A grant is "free money" taken from taxpayers and recycled by the government for projects they deem worthy.

Grants are not loans and never have to be repaid.

Seems to me $2.8 million for 9 employees is a bit excessive. They could have hired 9 licensed insurance agents for a lot less.

But less than a year after it opened, the Texas Consumer Health Assistance Program is preparing to shut down, a victim of Congress’s inability to agree on a federal budget for next year. The nine employees are likely to be dismissed in April. The events will stop and the toll-free hotline will redirect to a general consumer assistance number at the Texas Department of Insurance, which deals with all kinds of insurance and has less expertise in health coverage.

Less expertise . . . for $2.8 million.

Will someone explain why it takes taxpayer money, and a lot of it, to fund a project agents do every day at no cost to the taxpayer?