New Mexico might not have a heck of a lot to brag about when it comes to uninsured children, but at least we have a new thing we can thumb our noses at Texas about.

A report released Wednesday by Families USA found that the Land of Enchantment ranked third nationally in the percentage of uninsured children age 18 and under. About 93,000 kids, or 17.6 percent, fit that category from census information gathered from 2005 to 2007.

The Lone Star State, on the other hand, must feel lonely at the top. It ranked number one, with 1.4 million, or 20.5 percent, of its children uninsured.

The group issued reports for five Western states this week. Those states are Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. They ranked first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.

Florida was the only non-Western state in the top five and came in second.

"The Southwest has traditionally had a higher portion of its population uninsured," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "In each state, economics tend to be dependent on smaller businesses, and smaller businesses are least likely to provide insurance."

Western states also tend to have fewer labor unions than other parts of the country, which also affects the number of people with health insurance, Pollack said.

"Public health programs in (Western) states tend to be somewhat less generous than other parts of the country," he added.

New Mexico, however, might not be as bad as the report suggests, said Betina Gonzales McCracken, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department.

According to state data, 294,646 children were covered under the New Mexikids program, which is a combination of the State Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid. The department has estimated about 50,000 New Mexico children who are eligible for those programs are not enrolled, Gonzales McCracken said.

"The census usually admits that they undercount Medicaid participants," Gonzales McCracken said. "Our number of insured children is actually at an all-time high."

In the past few years, Health and Human Services has introduced more assistance programs and has done outreach in schools and communities statewide, which has helped reduce the number of uninsured children here, she said.

"A lot of people don't think they qualify, but when they actually come to one of our meetings and look into it, they find that they do qualify," Gonzales McCracken said.

The Legislature approved $22.5 million over 18 months in its last full session to be used to cover about 17,000 more kids. That money doesn't kick in until January, but the hope is the number of uninsured children across the state will continue to drop, she said.

Families in New Mexico qualify for the New Mexikids program if their income is up to 235 percent of federal poverty level. A New Mexico family of four making $49,824 a year qualifies for that assistance.

And children age 5 and below are eligible if their family makes up to 300 percent of poverty level. That's $63,612 for a family of four.

A common misconception about the uninsured is that they are welfare families that don't work, Pollack said.

Actually, nationally, two-thirds of the families that don't have health insurance for their kids have at least one person employed full time year-round. That number is even higher if you count families that have at least one person employed for part of the year, Pollack said.

"In the overwhelming majority in every one of the five (Western) states, the uninsured children are in families where at least one parent works," Pollack said.

With the economy tanking, however, the ranks of unemployed and uninsured are growing, he added.

"The need is getting greater with more people uninsured, more people out of work," Pollack said.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat and chairwoman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said she hopes the next congressional session will beef up Medicare as part of an economic stimulus package.

"There is absolutely no reason why the most powerful nation in the world can't give insurance to its poorest citizens," DeGette said.

Overall, New Mexico's numbers of uninsured children still are worrisome, whether you go by the Families USA data or the state's, Gonzales McCracken said.

"You have a sense of security with insurance that you don't have otherwise," Gonzales McCracken said. "You can take your child to the doctor for checkups, illnesses or injuries before they become an emergency situation."

Contact Sue Vorenberg at svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.

LEARN MORE

For information about New Mexikids Insurance, call the Insure New Mexico Solutions Center at 888-997-2583 or visit the Health and Human Services Department Web site at www.hsd.state.nm.us.