Thread by @TexasTribune

THREAD: What happens when you start feeling sick during an infectious disease outbreak but you don't have health insurance?

Texas has the highest share of uninsured residents of any state.

Here’s how that complicates the #COVID19 response. bit.ly/2vU1xle

2/ Republican leaders in Texas have for years opposed expanding publicly funded health insurance coverage to the poor.

Roughly 5 million Texans don’t have health insurance — a disproportionately large share of people. bit.ly/2vU1xle

3/ Public health experts say financial constraints could prevent millions of Texans from seeing doctors to get tested or treated — or could make it difficult for them to stay home from work even if they feel ill. bit.ly/2vU1xle

4/ Nearly 800 scientists, doctors and lawyers recently wrote in an open letter to the Trump administration that “control efforts will be less effective if some fail to seek appropriate diagnosis or care due to large out-of-pocket costs or copays.” bit.ly/2vU1xle

5/ Ten public health labs in Texas are operational or soon coming online to test for the new strain of the coronavirus that causes #COVID19.

@cdcgov has said that anyone can receive a test for the virus as long as a doctor agrees. bit.ly/2vU1xle

6/ The problem?

Experts say a significant portion of Texas’ massive uninsured population likely does not have a primary care doctor to make that call.

The state’s testing capacity is also currently limited. bit.ly/2vU1xle

7/ Another challenge, according to health care workers, is that the uninsured are more likely to get medical care in the emergency room.

In the event of widespread outbreak, the nation’s emergency hospital care system will be spread extremely thin. bit.ly/2vU1xle

8/8 @RodneyRohde, an infectious disease expert at @txst, said the strategy of infectious disease containment can only be effective at the beginning of an outbreak: “This is not abnormal. This is what [viruses] do.” bit.ly/2vU1xle