Houston Chronicle: What is more Texan than pit barbecue, bluebonnets, Friday Night Lights, Whataburger and Willie?
If you’re a Texan who likes to wrap yourself in the Lone Star flag, wrap your head around this: more ubiquitous than any Texas-shaped tattoo or tortilla chip is something far less deserving of our pride: Kids without health insurance. Once again, Texas has the largest share of uninsured kids in the nation, accounting for 1 in every 5 in the United States, according to a report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families.
Texas’ uninsured rate among kids was 10.7 percent in 2017 — more than double the national average of 5 percent. An estimated 835,000 Texas children went without health insurance, an increase of about 80,000 from the year before.