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Report Finds Nearly 900,000 Texas Kids Without Health Insurance
- Updated: November 14, 2014
by John Michaelson/TNS
AUSTIN, Texas – The number of Texas children without health insurance continues to slowly drop, but a new analysis also shows the state continues to have one of the highest rates of uninsured children in the nation – and warns that trouble could be on the horizon.
A main concern going forward is whether Congress will vote to extend funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Laura Guerra-Cardus, associate director of the Children’s Defense Fund-Texas, says the situation is critical.
“We’ve really had a generation of kids who have benefited from CHIP,” she says. “We should make sure the next generation of kids gets the same opportunity so that they can succeed in school and in life.”
A new report finds that close to 900,000 children in Texas are without health insurance, although the rate did fall slightly over the last few years. Photo: Ken/Flickr.
Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, says the rate of uninsured children in Texas fell from 13.2 percent to 12.6 percent between 2011 and 2013.
Despite that small decline, Alker says there are still nearly 900,000 children in the state without health insurance, according the Children’s Coverage at a Crossroads report she co-authored.
“Children in working families living on the brink of poverty are those that have the highest rate of ‘uninsurance,’ compared to other income groups,” says Alker.
According to Guerra-Cardus, children in those high-risk families could be helped if Texas were to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid – as uninsured children with parents who are covered are more likely to receive needed preventive care along with other health services.
