Image: organizetexas.org
Karun Sreerama serves as the head of SRRE Developers and Builders, LLC. An accomplished Houston-area builder committed to community service and philanthropy, Karun Sreerama received the 2016 Community Champion Award for Outstanding Civic Leadership from the Texas Organizing Project (TOP). The grassroots organization unites community members to advocate for justice, with areas of focus including health care expansion.
According to the organization’s policy director, Tiffany Hogue, Texas’ Medicaid system is among the most restrictive in the United States. In fact, the Texas Medicaid eligibility standards exclude families of four who earn more than $285 per month. If adults don’t have children, they cannot qualify for Medicaid unless they have disabilities or are pregnant, in addition to meeting specific income requirements.
The current situation of restricted Medicaid coverage leaves many people uninsured, creating more economic problems in the long term. Instead of receiving preventive care and early interventions, people without access to doctors are experiencing devastating symptoms by the time they turn up in an emergency room. Relying on ERs to give care to uninsured individuals instead of expanding Medicaid is the “most expensive and most inefficient use of our tax dollars,” Hogue said. Greater Medicaid expansion is needed to provide more cost-effective care to people in need.
Karun Sreerama 