Between 2005 and 2007 the average percentage of uninsured in Texas was 24.4 percent. By contrast, 8.3 percent of Hawaii’s and Massachusetts’ population were uninsured during the same period.
Other states with sizable Hispanic populations also had percentages of uninsured closer to that of Texas. Arizona has 19.6 percent uninsured, California has 18.6 percent uninsured and New Mexico’s uninsured rate is 21.9 percent.
Texas, with its large Hispanic population and the lower-than-average income of people with Hispanic surnames and origins, continues to have a high poverty rate, said Dr. James Rohack, director of Scott & White’s Center for Healthcare Policy and president-elect of the American Medical Association.
The number of uninsured dropped from 47 million to 45.7 million nationwide; however that number is disproportionately Hispanic, and will remain so as long as the poverty level of Hispanics remains high, Rohack said.
The official poverty rate in 2007 was 12.5 percent, not statistically different from 2006, according to the Census report.
The poverty rates of non-Hispanics were statistically unchanged, while the poverty of Hispanics rose from 20.6 percent in 2006 to 21.5 percent in 2007.
According to the Census report, 17.6 percent of children living in poverty are uninsured, compared to 11 percent of all children. By race and origin, 7.3 percent of white children are uninsured, compared to 20 percent Hispanic.
Education is the key and plays a role in whether a person can get a job that provides insurance or can achieve an income level making health insurance affordable, Rohack said.
The percentage of the uninsured over the past 20 years has increased from 13 to 15 percent, not all that significant until the increase of population is factored in, Rohack said.
“The number of warm bodies that are uninsured becomes much higher,” he said. “Twenty years ago, 19 percent of children were covered by the government. Now the number is up to 31 percent.”
The extremely poor qualify for Medicaid, but Texas Medicaid is not all that generous, hence the high number of uninsured children compared to northeastern states with more liberal coverage of children, Rohack said.
Between 6 and 8 percent of the uninsured choose not to get health insurance, he said.
There are tax incentives for businesses to provide health insurance for its employees, but there are none for the individual, Rohack said.
According to recent data, 80 percent of uninsured children live in a household where one of the adults have insurance, which highlights the fact that if that person wanted to buy insurance for his family there would be no tax break, he said.
Since a large segment of the population works for employers who don’t provide health insurance, the tax code should change to provide breaks for those looking at purchasing individual coverage, Rohack said.
