Working-Age Texans Most Likely To Be Uninsured

Working Age Texans Most Likely To Be Uninsured

In Texas, 32 percent of adults ages 19 to 64 are uninsured compared to 19 percent of children.  It’s a bit surprising that working-age adults in Texas are so much more likely to be uninsured than children, since parents (and not children) often have insurance provided with their job.

But if you look at how children and working age adults get coverage, you see that kids fare much better because we’ve created a safety net with Medicaid and CHIP that provides access to affordable coverage for children in low-income families.  In Texas today, most of the parents whose kids get Medicaid do not qualify, and poor adults without children do not qualify at all. Only adults who are elderly, fully disabled, pregnant women, and a small handful of parents with almost no income can get Medicaid today.  The income-eligibility level for parents—$308 per month for a working parent with two children—has not been increased by the Texas Legislature since 1985.  Parents working just 10 hours a week at minimum wage will earn too much too qualify for Medicaid (but far too little to afford private health insurance).

Expanding Medicaid eligibility to everyone who is living in or near the poverty as proposed in national health reform bills will dramatically increase access to affordable coverage for low-income Texans and make roughly a million low-income uninsured adults in Texas eligible for Medicaid.