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Report: Children Of Refugees Living In Texas Are More Likely To Lack Health Insurance

Research from the Migration Policy Institute shows majority of children were been born in the U.S.

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A report released this week by the Migration Policy Institute, MPI, explores the lives of the children of refugees living in the United States.

In the case of those who live in Texas, it focuses on health care coverage, or the lack of it.

A team of MPI researchers wrote the report, which covers different topics such as the geographic distribution of children whose parents are refugees, along with their parents' education and employment, using data compiled between 2009 and 2013 by the Census Bureau.

Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at MPI and one of the authors of the report, explains that the majority of children the document researched have been born in the U.S. and were 10 years-old or younger in the analyzed period of time.

In the case of Texas, the researchers note that this population is more likely to not have health insurance.

Capps thinks one of the reasons for that may be Texas' working conditions because "it is a state where jobs are relatively low paying and relatively less likely to be unionized and carry health coverage and other benefits than a lot of other major states."

Additionally, Texas is one of more than a dozen states that have declined federal funding to expand Medicaid.

Capps points out it's possible the implementation of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act lowered the number of uninsured children of refugees in the state.

However, the report doesn't analyze the Affordable Care Act's effects on this population.