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?
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