Texas leads nation in uninsured population

by Larry James of Urban Daily

1/4 of us are uninsured. So take those vitamins.

Did you see USAToday on Wednesday (June 20, 2007)?

A front page story on the mounting numbers of uninsured Americans reported that Texas leads the nation with right at 25% of us having no health coverage at all.

Minnesota ranked 50th with a bit over 8% uninsured. The national average comes in at just over 15%.

Texas: 25%! That is 1 out of every 4 people you see on the street, right? Maybe not. Depends on where you live. But, it is one of every four Texans--millions are children.

When you factor in the costs of treatment in emergency rooms, lost productivity at work and school due to untreated illnesses and the loss of years of life, a well-documented fact among those who study such matters, you face a public health and economic crisis of the first order.

Our state legislature just adjourned until 2009.

While our leaders did restore some funding and applied reforms to our Children's Health Insurance Program, they obviously didn't do nearly enough.

How long will it be before we wake up to the cost, the reality and the overwhelming need for a different sort of leadership and vision for our state.

And, incidentally, I wonder which state has more churches today per capita, Minnesota or Texas? I think I know. What does this mean? How many people of faith who are also insured really care about this issue?

Just wondering.