One In Five Uninsured Children Live In Texas

The chart above shows that Texas has nearly double the national percentage of uninsured children. That is inexcusable, and shows the Republicans leaders in Austin are doing a very poor job of extending insurance coverage to the poor -- especially children. Here is part of a Texas Tribune article on the subject:

Even as the share of children in Texas without health insurance continues to decline, the state still has nearly twice the national average, according to a new study.

A Georgetown University Center for Children and Families report released Thursday found that Texas still ranks second-worst in the nation for uninsured children, even though the rate of Texas kids without insurance decreased from 16.6 percent in 2009 to 9.5 percent in 2015. The national average was 4.8 percent in 2015.

Researchers, working from U.S. Census data, found almost one in five uninsured children in the United States live in Texas — 682,000 as of 2014. Only Alaska ranked worse. 

Joan Alker, the center's executive director, said Texas lags behind other big states like California, which has tried to streamline its application process online with its state health insurance exchange, done more outreach to underrepresented communities and expanded Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for the poor and disabled. Under the federal health law, people who make up to 138 percent of the poverty line are eligible for Medicaid. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have taken up the offer.

“I think it speaks to this ongoing resistance and reluctance to embrace the coverage agenda,” Alker said. “We know that just because we’re talking about kids doesn’t mean that all states will do the right thing.”