The number of uninsured young children in Texas has risen in recent years, according to a new report from Georgetown University's Center for Children and Families.
Georgetown CCF, a prominent nonpartisan health policy research organization, used data from the 2024 American Community Survey — the most recent data that is currently available from the U.S. Census Bureau.
"The reason we look at young children is because their coverage is really important during a critical time of their development," said Georgetown CCF research fellow Elisabeth Burak. "When they don't have access to the care that they need in those early years, they're at higher risk of falling behind developmentally."
Researchers found that 10.8% of Texas children under 6 were uninsured in 2024, up from 7.9% in 2022. That comes out to more than 73,000 additional uninsured kids. Texas has the highest uninsured rate of any U.S. state for that age bracket, far exceeding the national rate of 5.3%.
Nationwide, the uninsured rate for kids under 6 jumped from 4.3% to 5.3% from 2022 to 2024, the equivalent of 220,000 children. Researchers found that more than half of that increase could be traced to three large states — Texas, Georgia and Florida.
Children who belong to low-income families qualify for coverage through Medicaid in Texas and other states, but many who qualify are not currently enrolled. The public policy research group Texas 2036 estimates around half of the uninsured children in Texas could qualify for Medicaid.
Researchers with Georgetown CCF attributed the increase between 2022 and 2024 to a specific policy development known as "Medicaid unwinding." That's when states were required to reestablish Medicaid eligibility for all enrollees.
When COVID-19 was declared an official public health emergency, enrollees had their coverage automatically extended. During unwinding, more than 2 million Texans lost Medicaid coverage, according to health policy research organization KFF. Around 1.7 million were unenrolled for procedural issues, like missing or incomplete paperwork.
Cathy Hope, a representative for Georgetown CCF, said the new report indicated that states like Texas should investigate whether their health coverage systems are functioning as they should.
"What we're saying is the check engine light is on — somebody needs to check what's going on in these states, because kids shouldn't be losing health coverage," Hope said. "The eligibility levels didn't change, and their parents aren't suddenly making too much money to qualify."
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