For over a decade now, Texas has been the state with the nation's highest
rate of uninsured children, but a new grassroots start-up will work to end the trend by instead "building a legacy of healthy
children." With legislators weighing
deep cuts to health programs and deadlines approaching for implementation of
the new national health care law, advocates behind the new initiative called, KidsWell Texas, seek to
build a movement that will deliver affordable, quality health care for all
Texas children by 2015.
KidsWell
Texas will be the first broad-based initiative of its kind in Texas to organize
thousands of parents of uninsured children and kids on CHIP and Medicaid, alongside other concerned
residents, in an effort to ensure more young Texans can see a doctor. The initiative is
funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and led by Engage Texas, the Center for
Public Policy Priorities, Children's Defense Fund - Texas, and Texans Care for
Children. The latter three groups have worked together with state policymakers
and fellow advocates in the Texas CHIP Coalition since 2006 to increase health
care coverage for children. Since 2007, more than 865,000 Texas children have
gained Children's Medicaid or CHIP health care.
Take action on the KidsWell site by sending a letter to stop state leaders: www.kidswelltexas.org.
See the KidsWell video short "No New Texas."
Read the publication Texans Have Priorities for Our State.
Join the new effort on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KidsWellTexas.
Follow KidsWell on Twitter, visit: http://twitter.com/KidsWellTX
