apple message app stopped sending messages to phones that are not iPhones

[nw58]

My iPhone messages on my iPhone 11 worked perfectly for about 1 year then suddenly I cannot send messages to anyone who does not have an iPhone (iPhone users still receive them and I can still receive texts from phones that are not iPhones . After getting no resolution from Apple or Verizon I found and downloaded the Verizon app. It works but it takes several presses to get the message to come up. I want to restore function and continue to use the Apple message app instead. In an earlier thread  I saw a post that said: "

"I have taken the phone back to the Verizon store where they checked the setting, then we got a new sim card then a new phone, all with no luck.  I have taken the phone to a private Apple tech shop where they tried everything, including taking the sim card out and putting it into a new iPhone 11 and it would still not send text to non-iPhones.  I understand that sms texts maybe turned off in the service for my phone, but I can't figure out how to change that setting in my account."

I think this is my problem also. How can I get this corrected? By the way, the Verizon texts that are sent to my phone to confirm my identity didn't work either. They only went to my iwatch so I couldn't even contact you when I tried to log in to the website or call. Somehow it let me log in through this form and let me send the confirmation code to my email.