Texas Leads The Nation In Number Of Uninsured Kids
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - A new report says the number of uninsured children in the United States has increased for the first time in nearly a decade -- and Texas leads the nation.
According to the report, by Georgetown's Center for Children and Families, more than one in five uninsured children in the U.S. live in Texas. The uninsured rate went from 752,000 in 2016 to 835,000 in 2017. The state has had the highest number of uninsured kids two years in a row.
Nationally, the number of uninsured children increased by an estimated 276,000 to about 3.9 million in 2017. That compares to a historic low in 2016 when 4.7 children were uninsured.
Texas also has the highest uninsured rate among adults in the country.
Experts say the newly uninsured children are clustered in states like Texas, Wyoming and Oklahoma, that did not expand Medicaid. Under President Obama's Affordable Care Act the states could have received federal funding to help pay for health coverage for millions of people.
The study concluded, "The nation's many years of progress in reducing the number of uninsured children came to a halt and reversed course in 2017."
