Texas Has Highest % of Uninsured Children in Nation – Let’s Change That – Say Ahhh! A Children’s Health Policy Blog

As a person in charge of outreach for Children’s Defense Fund-Texas it is part of my job to connect with my
audience. Texas leads the nation in the rate of uninsured kids and for many years I’d thought of my audience as families with uninsured children — households headed by couples, single parents, grandparents or other relatives. Primarily these households could not afford to pay for private health
insurance. After all, family
coverage averages more than $1000 per month.  Who can seriously afford that, especially in the economy
we’ve experienced since 2008? 

Most of my time becoming an ‘expert’ in health outreach
has been spent delivering easy to understand messages about the Children’s
Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid.  I present those messages to schools,
communities, faith groups, on the radio, in local supermarkets…anywhere.  Wherever adults with children might be
is where you will find my team educating and raising awareness about the
issues. 

Listening to John Mayer, I never realized I’d been
overlooking part of my audience. 
You see, my messages have been heard by those in the front row or with
seats on the floor, but I have probably been failing to project my voice loud
enough to reach those sitting in the nosebleed seats – teenagers. The truth of
the matter is that I never even considered teenagers as a potential audience in
my work.

My first encounter with uninsured teens happened in
2008.  Bertha and Julio were
siblings living together on their own. 
Bertha had applied for Medicaid health coverage for herself and Julio
but did not know to write ‘independent minor’ across the top of their
application so that the State Agency would know that they were living on their
own.  As a result, their
application was delayed and Bertha spent many months trying to find a
knowledgeable adult who could help her access the health coverage they both
desperately needed.  As glad as I
was to be able to assist Bertha, I was equally bummed to realize that so many
other teens may be going unassisted.

Bertha and Julio made me realize something very
important.  Teens can be important
messengers and advocates for themselves when faced with the challenge.  By recognizing what they’d been through
and the barriers they’d faced, they brought John Mayer’s lyrics to life for me.

In my home state of Texas young people and teenagers are
in crisis.  The top social barriers
facing Texas youth, such as poverty, homelessness and pregnancy have
significantly lower health indicators associated with them.

There are more than 300,000 homeless children in
Texas.  Texas also ranks #1 in
repeat teen birth rates.
While adults might be a hard-to-reach
population, teens are just about impossible-to-reach, unless you start thinking
about them as part of your target audience. 

At Children’s Defense Fund-Texas, we are always re-evaluating and improving the way we
do things.  We have worked with
high school students through service groups and clubs to train them in
educating their friends and family about the CHIP and Medicaid programs.  And now, a new partnership with the
Texas Association of School Administrators
  is going to enable us to more
systematically train and develop high school leaders in five Texas school
districts to develop effective outreach strategies in reaching and connecting
kids to affordable health coverage. 

I‘ve made it my personal and professional mission to
engage with more teens and young people in my sphere of influence about
advocating for kids and in talking about programs like CHIP and Medicaid.  Some people may be still waiting on the
world, but teens like Bertha and Julio inspired me to change.