Middle Class Helped By Healthcare Reform

It is no secret middle class Americans are struggling. They are making tough day to day decisions about where to spend money. And on top of that, health insurance costs continue to rise.  

Brittany Morales is a stay at home mom, taking care of 17-month old Gracie. Her husband, Mark, is self-employed. Recently the couple received a letter from their insurance company.

"They raised their premiums pretty significantly" says Brittany. "We were really shocked to say the least."

She says the company wanted an additional $60-$70 a month, creating a financial dilemma for the young family.

"It's even gotten to the point where my husband may feel like he needs to not cover himself because of the fact that its so high per month" she says.

"We have been seeing an increase in a number of persons who are making that transition of not being able to go to their traditional healthcare provider because they don't have the ability to pay for it" says Willie White, the CEO of David Raines Community Health Centers.

He says the center has seen double digit increases in its employee's premiums. But the healthcare reform bill puts stipulations on those increases.

"I think it will hopefully provide more affordable access through what would be the health insurance exchanges that we believe will foster more competetion between insurance companies and drive down some of the rates" says White.

Helping those like the Morales family. They are currently shopping around, hoping to keep all three covered.

In Texas, the most recent numbers show 6,084,093 people without health insurance. That is about a quarter of the state's population.

In Louisiana, more than 822,700 are without health insurance, about 19.3-percent.