• Texas is home to an estimated 1.4 million uninsured children.
• At least 86% of these uninsured children are in families with at least one parent working full time.
• The state has estimated that about 550,000 to 600,000 of the uninsured children - about 40% of the total are below 100% of poverty. When those in families with incomes just above poverty are added (up to 150% of poverty) that number jumps to 850,000.
• These are not families on cash assistance (those families automatically get Medicaid). They are low-income families struggling to make ends meet - including the more than 350,000 Texans who have left welfare in recent years - but who don't have or cannot afford employer-provided insurance for their families.
• Hispanic and African-American children in Texas are uninsured out of proportion to their numbers: of the 1.4 million uninsured children, 56% are Hispanic, 14% African American, and 28% Anglo.
• Uninsured children are concentrated along the Texas-Mexico border in higher numbers than other parts of Texas with similar population numbers. But the problem is not just a Border problem; for example, Houston and the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex are each home to even more uninsured children than the Border.

Why Is Children's Health Insurance Important?

Many studies have shown that lack of health insurance reduces access to needed medical care. Uninsured children:

• Are much less likely to receive medical care they need than insured children. Recent studies have found that uninsured children were six times more likely than children with private insurance to go without medical care.
• Often do not see doctors for conditions that require treatment and that could cause long-term problems. For example, 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.
• Are more likely to delay or go without needed medical care because of financial barriers. The National Center for Health Statistics found that parents were almost five times more likely to delay getting care for their uninsured children because of cost than parents of children with publicly funded insurance.
• Fare worse in hospitals than insured children fare and are more likely to die because seeking care is delayed until easily treatable problems become serious. One study found that the in-hospital death rate was 1.46 times higher among uninsured Anglo children, and 1.88 times higher among uninsured African American children, when compared to privately insured children.
• Uninsured children who experience injuries - even serious injuries - are less likely to receive medical attention. Children without insurance coverage are only 73 percent as likely to have their injuries treated by a medical provider.