Pediatric HEALTH CARE COVERAGE

Health insurance coverage is an important factor in the ability of a child to access preventive and acute health care. Children with coverage receive care earlier when problems arise, and they are less likely to require hospitalization. 8

Unfortunately, children in Northeast Texas are more likely to be uninsured than children across Texas and more than twice as likely to be uninsured as their national counterparts. If Northeast Texas were its own state, it would rank 51st in the percentage of children who do not have any health insurance access. 9 A significantly higher percentage of Northeast Texas children are also insured through publicly funded health insurance, such as Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Children insured by Medicaid and CHIP have better access to care and better health outcomes than their uninsured peers. There are also often barriers to care for these children, including narrow provider networks, distance to providers accepting their insurance and limitations on some services.10