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Tag: uninsured children

  • Study shows uninsured children could increase with loss of pandemic-era coverage

    Study shows uninsured children could increase with loss of pandemic-era coverage

    Getty Images.

    “As we begin the process of redetermining eligibility for the first time in three years, we must pay particular attention to children’s needs to minimize the number of children who lose coverage.”

    Kelly Vyzral

    BY: SUSAN TEBBEN – Ohio Capital Journal

    A new study warns of a sharp rise in uninsured children in Ohio and across the country if pandemic-era coverage is allowed to fade away.

    The Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families studied the impact of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid on bringing down state’s uninsured rate, finding that it “proved to be a critical lifeline for more than half of the nation’s children during the pandemic.”

    Now that a March 2020 provision increasing the federal contribution to state Medicaid programs while requiring states to maintain continuous coverage for Medicaid patients during the COVID-19 public health emergency will be going away, the number of children falling under those protections will also be decreasing.

    “These children are at grave risk of losing coverage inappropriately in states that do not handle the renewal process with the utmost care,” the study stated.

    Because of a loss of income eligibility and “bureaucratic snafus,” the study estimates up to 6.7 million children in the U.S. will lose coverage because of the “unwinding” of pandemic-era programs, scheduled to happen on April 1.

    “The uninsured rate for children could easily more than double if states have inadequate staffing levels and overwhelmed call centers and do not take the time and care needed to properly conduct eligibility checks after the federal protections lift,” the study stated.

    From February 2020 to August 2022, Ohio saw a 26.7% increase in Medicaid and CHIP enrollment, ranking them 29th in the nation based on data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The share of enrollment made up by children in Ohio was 25.6%.

    “As we begin the process of redetermining eligibility for the first time in three years, we must pay particular attention to children’s needs to minimize the number of children who lose coverage,” Kelly Vyzral, senior health policy associate for the Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, said in response to the study.

    The Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio said nearly half of children in Ohio are covered by Medicaid and other public health insurance programs. The study showed 54% of all American children are covered by Medicaid of CHIP.

    Ohio already has the 12-month continuous Medicaid and CHIP child eligibility for those under age 19 recommended by the study to mitigate losses and gaps in coverage.

    Continuous eligibility protects parents who see an increase in income during a 12-month period from losing child Medicaid or CHIP coverage.

    Ohioans should verify contact information with local benefits offices or through the Medicaid patient portal to avoid cancellation of child insurance, Vyzral said.

    Ohio must complete Medicaid eligibility checks by May 2024.

  • Report: Rate of uninsured Ohio children rises significantly

    Report: Rate of uninsured Ohio children rises significantly

    After hitting a historically low rate in 2016, the number of uninsured children has gradually grown to eliminate progress made in the country. Ohio, alone, had a double-digit jump in the three-year study.

    Susan TebbenSusan Tebben is an award-winning journalist with a decade of experience covering Ohio news, including courts and crime, Appalachian social issues, government, education, diversity and culture. She has worked for The Newark Advocate, The Glasgow Daily Times, The Athens Messenger, and WOUB Public Media. She has also had work featured on National Public Radio.

    Nationally, the rate of children not covered by medical insurance was down to 4.7% in 2016, but started to increase again the year after, according to a new study by Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center for Children and Families.

    In 2019, the rate had jumped to 5.7%, an increase of 726,000 more children since the Trump Administration took office in 2016, the study showed.

    “Much of the gain in coverage that children made as a consequence of the Affordable Care Act’s major coverage expansions implemented in 2014 has now been eliminated,” the study noted in its key findings.

    The data was collected from single-year estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey from the three years.

    Ohio was one of several states that saw an increase of more than 20,000 uninsured children from 2016 to 2019.

    Ohio’s uninsured rate went up 26% from 2016 to 2019. Data from 2019 show 131,000 Ohio children without insurance, up from 104,000 in 2016.

    Ohio child health advocates say a lack of health insurance contributes to worse life outcomes, which extend to education and societal shortcomings.

    “This damaging trend will have long-term consequences for children and communities across Ohio because without health coverage, children cannot access the care they need to grow and thrive,” said Tracy Najera, executive director of the Children’s Defense Fund Ohio, in response to the study.

    The study attributed declines in Medicaid enrollment as the start of the decrease in insured children. Public coverage for children includes Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

    The largest national increase in uninsured children, 320,000, came between 2018 and 2019, and represents the largest annual jump in more than a decade, the authors of the study said.

    “Moreover, since this data was collected prior to the pandemic, the number of uninsured children is likely considerably higher in 2020, as families have lost their jobs and employer-sponsored insurance, though it is impossible to know yet by precisely how much,” the study stated.

    The study comes as some K-12 schools see spikes in COVID-19 rates, and cases in ages 0-19 represent the fifth highest age group in the state, according to state data.

    Texas and Florida had the highest rates, representing 41% of the overall increase in child non-coverage, with about 1 million children in Texas lacking health insurance in 2019, and an estimated 343,000 uninsured children in Florida.