Panel studies affordability crisis ahead of 2027

Data provided to a House committee shows that Texas lawmakers are probing the causes of rising health care expenses as more than 5 million citizens remain uninsured.

The House Select Committee on Health Care Affordability began hearings April 30 to determine why medical prices rise faster than earnings and inflation. The highest uninsured rate in the nation was 16.7% in 2024, with 5.2 million Texans without health insurance.

Rep. James Frank, R-Wichita Falls, chaired the committee and said lawmakers must understand reasons before suggesting solutions.

“Our goal is to find policy solutions that lower the cost of quality health care,” Frank stated in the hearing.

Policy analysts, economists, and insurance specialists spoke before lawmakers for two days. The debate centered on how rising premiums and medical expenditures are stressing household budgets.

Rep. Toni Rose, D-Dallas, said many Texans cannot afford basic care. It is not sustainable. Rose called it deplorable, noting families unable to afford needed therapies.

Americans spend more on health care than other industrialized nations, but they may not get better results, experts told legislators. Senior vice president Cynthia Cox of the health policy charity KFF said increasing pricing, not utilization, are key.

Cox shared, “We spend more on average per person on health care, and yet we live shorter lives.”

The committee saw data showing U.S. health care expenses have outpaced inflation for decades. Since 2000, expenditure has climbed three times faster than inflation, with the average family health insurance premium reaching $27,000, according to Yale University's Health Care Affordability Lab director Zack Cooper.

“Every family is basically buying a new Toyota Corolla worth of health insurance,” Cooper added.

Witnesses also said industry mergers could raise pricing. Cooper reported over 1,300 hospital mergers since 2000, leaving 21% of hospitals as monopolies.

Lawmakers observed that health care and insurance profit motives may raise expenses. Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons, D-Houston, said corporations must make money while delivering care.

The group will likely consider policy proposals before the 2027 legislative session in the coming months.