child insurance

Texas should do more for children without insurance

(STAR TELEGRAM) - Can we please stop pretending that helping working parents provide health insurance for their children is a ruse for enacting an unwarranted middle-class entitlement?

The arguments against increasing access to Texas’ Children’s Health Insurance Program have included claims that it would entice parents away from private insurance providers and get away from the mission of aiding the neediest families.

Even though legislation to expand the program won several rounds of approval in both the Senate and the House during this year’s session, the bills ultimately died for lack of time.

Gov. Rick Perry didn’t help by sending signals that he didn’t want to see a CHIP expansion bill on his desk.

The derailment happened even though Republican and Democratic lawmakers worked diligently to produce a plan backed by a broad coalition of groups. They ranged from the Arlington and Fort Worth Chambers of Commerce to Big Brothers Big Sisters, from the Texas Catholic Conference to the Texas Medical Association.

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