January 2024: President’s Report

This is a preview of our Texas 2036 newsletter with the President’s Report for January 2024. To receive this weekly look at our work, sign up here.

Jan. 26, 2024

Fellow Texans,

Happy 2024! I hope this new year has started well for you. Here at Texas 2036, we’ve hit the ground running, laying the framework to positively impact our state this year and for years to come.

Just a few weeks ago we released the latest report from our multi-year study of the uninsured in Texas. From our thorough analysis of the 5 million uninsured Texans, we found that nearly 1.5 million Texans who lack health insurance are eligible for plans that offer coverage at no cost. This presents a huge opportunity to drastically improve access to affordable health care in Texas.

This first-of-its-kind report was covered by almost two dozen media outlets across the state, including Texas Monthly. And the Dallas Morning News trumpeted our call to take advantage of existing programs to tackle the problem of the uninsured in Texas.

We know now that 3.5 million Texans signed up for a 2024 plan through the ACA exchange. That’s an increase of 44.5% over 2023. This reinforces what we learned from talking to 2,003 uninsured Texans: The vast majority want coverage and there are solvable barriers that Texas can address to ensure more Texans have access to affordable care.

Our next major reports will come starting in early February and include:

• The Future of Texas Energy dashboard that will explore how various energy technology strategies might shape economic and environmental outlooks regionally and statewide.
• A complete update to our popular, and concerning, Texas Extreme Weather Report.
• And a Classroom-to-Career resource page that will put real numbers on how many Texas students are graduating high school not ready for college, career or the military — and real solutions Texas can leverage to expand opportunity.

I’m also excited about the updates that we’re making to the Strategic Framework, our foundational data tool that tracks the state’s progress across the 36 key performance indicators that we’ve identified as important to ensuring Texas is the best place to live and work.

Last year, Dr. Holly Heard, vice president for data and analytics, and her data team made several important enhancements to the Strategic Framework, including the addition of a state rankings tool that allows users to see how Texas’ progress stacks up against a set of peer states.

This is just a brief overview of the meaningful and impactful data and policy work we’re tackling this year as we prepare for the next legislative session, thanks to your generous support in helping secure the prosperity of all Texans. Together we are making a real difference for the future of the Lone Star State.

Thank you,

 

Justin Coppedge
Interim President and CEO