Texas now has the highest rate of uninsured young children in the nation, according to a newly released report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF).
The report found that nearly 11% of Texas children under the age of 6 lacked health insurance in 2024 — a dramatic increase from 7.9% just two years earlier.
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Researchers say that jump translates to more than 73,000 additional uninsured children across the state.
Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey, Georgetown CCF found Texas far exceeds the national uninsured rate for young children, which currently sits at 5.3%.
“The reason we look at young children is because their coverage is really important during a critical time of their development,” Georgetown CCF research fellow Elisabeth Burak said.
Nationwide, the uninsured rate among children under 6 rose from 4.3% in 2022 to 5.3% in 2024, representing roughly 220,000 children losing coverage. Researchers found that more than half of that increase came from just three states: Texas, Georgia and Florida.
Health policy experts say one of the main drivers behind the increase was the end of pandemic-era Medicaid protections, often referred to as “Medicaid unwinding.”
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, Medicaid coverage was automatically extended for enrollees. Once that emergency ended, states were required to reevaluate eligibility for millions of recipients.
According to health policy organization KFF, more than 2 million Texans lost Medicaid coverage during the unwinding process. Around 1.7 million of those cases were tied to procedural issues, including missing paperwork or incomplete renewal forms.
Researchers say many uninsured children in Texas may still qualify for Medicaid but are simply not enrolled. Public policy organization Texas 2036 estimates that roughly half of uninsured children in the state are eligible for coverage.