New statewide push to reduce Texas’ uninsured population starts in the Rio Grande Valley

There’s no shortage of healthcare industry challenges along the Texas-Mexico border, leaders of the Austin-based Texas Medical Association recently told its members during a Border Health Caucus conference in Edinburg, but there’s a multi-faceted approach to tackle each one, from changing laws to workforce development efforts and grant funding opportunities. 

“The list [of priorities] is long, but I think it’s very easy to start with just children,” Dr. Victor Gonzalez, an ophthalmologist in McAllen and chair of the Border Health Caucus told the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal in a recent interview. 

For example, Gonzalez mentioned that roughly 15% of children along the Texas-Mexico border are uninsured, that’s higher than the Texas average of 11%, according to U.S. Census estimates provided by the Border Health Caucus. 

That data point appears to be the average of several counties along the border from Cameron County to Presidio County. For example, the uninsured rate for individuals 18 and younger was 13.9% in 2024 in Cameron County and 21% in Presidio County in West Texas.