This situation has created a large segment of people in the American middle class who cannot afford coverage for themselves, their spouse, or children, but who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
Clearly, something needs to be done to relieve the pressure on families, but what? Federal grant money has been given to each state, making them locally responsible for coming up with a suitable solution. In Texas an agency, the TexCare Partnership, was established to address the issue of uninsured children. The main goal of the TexCare Partnership is to provide insurance plans for children for at prices their families can afford (TexCare). Texcare consists of three different insurance programs: the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, and the Texas Healthy Kids Corporation (THKC). Combined, these programs provide affordable health-care insurance for children from newborns through age 18. .
Each plan offers a full range of coverage, from regular checkups and immunizations to prescription drugs and hospital visits. They even cover pre-existing conditions, a benefit rarely found in private sector insurance plans. Each of the plans emphasizes preventive healthcare. Also, with each plan the rates are based on the family's income and ability to pay (Insure-A-Kid).
The greatest benefit is the variety in the plans. There is a program for everyone (Insure-A-Kid). Medicaid, of course, helps those families in the lower income bracket. A family of four with an income of $38,000 won't qualify for Medicaid, but can still qualify for CHIP or Texas Healthy Kids (Insure-A-Kid). It's a good deal that takes a lot of financial pressure off of families.
In the past two years the TexCare Partnership has matched forty-seven percent of the uninsured children in Travis and Williamson counties to an appropriate insurance plan their parents could afford (Insure-A-Kid). They must be doing something right.
