High TX Uninsured Rate Includes Texans Of All Backgrounds and Communities
As you’ve probably heard by now, Texas has the worst uninsured rate in the nation for children, women of childbearing age, and the overall population. And it’s getting worse.
It’s important to understand that the high uninsured rate is in large part a result of state policies, so it includes Texans of many different backgrounds and in many different communities. Consider:
From Longview to McAllen to Amarillo and beyond, all of the state’s top 25 metro areas have a worse uninsured rate than the nation as a whole.
In Texas, the children’s uninsured rates for White (non-Hispanic), Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American children are all higher than the national children's uninsured rate.
The vast majority of uninsured Texans are U.S. citizens. If all non-citizens (both lawfully present and undocumented) were removed from the Texas uninsured data, the state’s uninsured rate would be 12.6 percent, still much higher than the national average of 8.5 percent and still the largest number of uninsured in the U.S., according to analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Center for Public Policy Priorities.
Other border states have much lower children's uninsured rates than the Texas rate of 11.2 percent: New Mexico (5.3 percent), Arizona (8.4 percent), and California (3.1 percent).
While the Legislature passed zero bills during the 2019 legislative session to reduce the uninsured rate, we are encouraged by the growing level of interest in addressing this problem during the next legislative session. For example, in announcing House and Senate interim charges, Lt. Governor Patrick and Speaker Bonnen recently directed legislative committees to study ways to reduce the uninsured rate. Fortunately, there are a number of policy solutions available to state leaders.
We look forward to working with legislators to make health coverage a priority during the next legislative session.