Down and Out in Texas

This from the pages of "Tell us something we didn't already know": Poverty rates in the U.S. rose last year, with Texans suffering worse than most. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's annual report "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance in the United States," 14.3% of Americans were living at or below the federal poverty line in 2009, a worrying slump from 13.2% in 2008. The situation is even worse in the Lone Star State: Last year, an extra 428,000 Texans were classified as living below this threshold, pushing the total number of impoverished citizens to 4.3 million of the state's 24.6 million residents – or 17.3%, up from 15.9% in 2008. Only five states and the District of Columbia have worse statistics (see table), but Texas gets a special dishonorable mention as the state with the lowest proportion of its population covered by health insurance – 73.9%, compared to the national average of 83.3%. Anne Dunkelberg, associate director for the Center for Public Policy Priorities, pointed out that Texas has historically had the nation's worst rates of insurance because so few employers offer coverage. "Nothing that has happened in the last 20 years has improved our standing any," said Dunkelberg, "so we've stayed at the end of the line." She said the first wave of health care reforms passed by President Barack Obama in March – including ending the exclusion from employer-provided insurance of kids with pre-existing conditions – take effect at the end of this week and should prevent more people from losing their coverage. There is yet another glimmer of hope: The percentage of uninsured children has dropped, "entirely because of improved coverage by Medicaid and CHIP," Dunkelberg said. However, due to the decline in employer-provided coverage, she added, "We had an increase in the uninsured rate among higher-income kids."

Highest Poverty Rates

17.3% Texas

17.9% District of Columbia

18.4% Georgia

18.9% Arkansas

19.3% New Mexico

21.2% Arizona

23.1% Mississippi

Lowest Poverty Rates

7.8% New Hampshire

8.4% Connecticut

9.2% Wyoming

9.3% New Jersey

9.4% Vermont

9.6% Maryland

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[Source: U.S. Census Bureau]