Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has incorrectly stated he is without health insurance coverage because Blue Cross Blue Shield left the Texas market, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"I don't have healthcare right now," Sen. Cruz said last week in New Hampshire, according to the report. "I had purchased an individual policy, and Blue Cross Blue Shield cancelled all their individual policies in the state of Texas, effective Dec. 31. So our healthcare got cancelled. We got a notice in the mail Blue Cross Blue Shield was leaving the market. And so we're in the process of finding another," he said, according to the report.
The Houston Chronicle went on to debunk these remarks, stating Sen. Cruz was incorrect about BCBS offerings available in Texas and his own coverage. According to the Texas paper's sleuthing, Sen. Cruz said in 2015 he and his wife, Heidi, purchased an individual plan after she went on temporary leave from her position at Goldman Sachs.
BCBS of Texas decided in July 2015 to cut individual PPO plans to keep rates lower across all its plans, according to the report. The plans continued through Dec. 31, and were discontinued in 2016. The company said it notified members in time to prepare for open enrollment on Nov. 1, 2015, according to the report.
A BCBS spokeswoman confirmed with the Houston Chronicle the company still offers health plans in every county in Texas and would work to transition members with individual PPO plans to other plans without a gap in coverage, according to the report.
Sen. Cruz was not available for comment, though a spokeswoman told The Wall Street Journal the senator's insurance broker informed him he lost coverage Dec. 31, according to the report.
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