Texas Leads Nation in Percentage of Uninsured Workers

el - Combine this with one of the most underfunded* public health care systems and many people are up the creek.

The study also found that being uninsured has clear health consequences. People without coverage were less likely to get basic preventive care, like mammograms; less likely to have a personal physician; and more likely to rate their own health as only poor or fair.

Many small businesses simply cannot afford to provide their workers with health insurance, which is now approaching an average cost of $9,000 a year for each employee, according to Kate Sullivan, director of health care policy at the United States Chamber of Commerce.

* "Governor Perry did not submit a budget proposal to the legislature. Instead, he ordered the Health and Human Services Commission to prepare budget recommendations for the 2004-2005 biennium for programs under the agency?s jurisdiction, including Medicaid and CHIP, that are 12.5 percent below the levels appropriated for 2002-2003. To implement such deep reductions, the Commission has recommended changes that would end coverage by 2005 for an estimated 400,000 children in Medicaid and SCHIP and 69,000 adults in Medicaid. The adults who could lose coverage are primarily working-poor parents and include low-income women with breast cancer and cervical cancer who gained eligibility for coverage under a Medicaid option that the state recently adopted. The Commission?s budget recommendations also would cut payment rates for most health care providers by a striking 33 percent and terminate prescription drug coverage for most Medicaid beneficiaries. "

These proposals passed in the GOP controled legislature with very limited coverage in the Texas media.

Only recently have stories been coming out.

"CHIP enrollment has since dropped by nearly 119,000 children, or 23 percent.

"Without health insurance many families and parents simply cannot afford the preventive care that will keep their kids healthy," said Bryan Sperry, president of the Children's Hospital Association of Texas.

The Legislature last year increased the premiums and set more restrictive qualifications for families participating in CHIP. The cuts also discontinued dental and vision benefits.

The Campaign to Restore CHIP, a coalition of health and child advocates, estimated that the state will lose $500 million in federal matching funds as a result of its CHIP cuts. The state receives $2.59 for each dollar it spends on CHIP.