New Report Finds That Texas is Near the Bottom in Children's Health Coverage

Majority of Uninsured Children in Texas Come From Working Families

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A new report, issued by a national health consumer watchdog organization, indicates that Texas is currently near the bottom in providing health care coverage for children. The report, issued by Families USA, comes at a time when the Texas legislature is considering expanding health coverage under the national Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The Families USA report finds that Texas has the second largest number (after California) of uninsured children in the country and the second highest rate (after Arizona) of uninsured children in the country. Both California and Arizona, however, decided recently to extend health coverage to children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level ($27,300 in annual income for a family of three) while Texas remains at 100 percent of poverty for adolescents. To date, only North Dakota and Wyoming have done as little as Texas in extending health coverage for children.

According to the Families USA report, a majority of states have decided to extend health coverage to children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The governor has circulated a draft proposal that raises eligibility to only 150 percent of poverty. The legislature is considering a number of CHIP proposals and a majority of members in the House of Representatives have indicated they would support raising CHIP eligibility to 200 percent of poverty.

"In state after state, conservatives, liberals and moderates from both political parties have supported raising eligibility to 200 percent of poverty," said Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA. "This 200 percent of poverty standard, designed to include the children of low-wage working families, has become the true test of compassion. Hopefully the governor and the state legislature will meet this test."

The Families USA report found that, of the 11 million children without health insurance in the United States, 1.4 million live in Texas. Only California, with 1.7 million uninsured children has more kids without health care coverage, but California recently raised eligibility for CHIP to 200 percent of poverty.

Additional findings from the Families USA report include:

• In Texas 24 percent of children are uninsured almost one in four. Nationally, 15 percent of children are uninsured. Texas has the second highest rate of uninsured children in the country. Arizona has the highest rate of uninsured children (25 percent) in the country but has recently implemented a plan to raise CHIP eligibility to 200 percent of poverty.
• Three out of four uninsured Texas children could receive coverage if the legislature followed the recommendation of a bipartisan interim committee of the state legislature to expand CHIP eligibility to 200 percent of poverty.
• Of Texas children who are uninsured, almost nine in ten (88 percent) live in a family where the head of household works during all or part of the year. Three in five (63 percent) are in families whose head of household is employed full-time throughout the year.
• Hispanic children comprise a majority (56 percent) of the uninsured children in Texas.
• Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Washington have all enacted CHIP or Medicaid plans with eligibility at or above 200 percent of poverty.

"By expanding CHIP eligibility to 200 percent of poverty, we can provide health insurance to 500,000 Texas children who are uninsured. Most of these children are in working families, who play by the rules, earn too much for Medicaid, and yet still don't make enough to afford health care coverage for their kids," said Anne Dunkelberg, Director, Center for Public Policy Priorities.

The Families USA report found that if Texas expands eligibility to only 150 percent of poverty, 220,000 of those 500,000 children would not receive health care coverage, children such as Barry Authenreith.

"My son Barry has a heart condition, but we don't have any health care coverage," said Gary Authenreith, parent of Barry, age five. "I work full time and make too much money for Medicaid. I live in fear that Barry's condition will worsen and I won't be able to afford his treatment."

Uninsured children are much less likely than insured children to receive the medical care they need. Recent studies have found that uninsured children were six times more likely than children with private insurance to go without medical care. In addition, uninsured children are less likely than children with health insurance to receive care from a doctor for conditions like acute or recurrent earaches and asthma. Compared to children with health insurance, uninsured children who experience injuries--even serious injuries--are less likely to receive medical attention.

The Families USA report was compiled using data from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

1201 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1100 · Washington, DC 20005
202-628-3030 · Email: info@familiesusa.org · www.familiesusa.org