November 20, 2013
By Catherine Candisky,
Nearly 95 percent of Ohio children have health coverage, with the share of uninsured youngsters being reduced by half in the past 15 years.
Ohio’s percentage of children with coverage is 2 points above the national average, according to a report released today by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, which credits the tax-funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program with driving down the number of uninsured children.
In Ohio, more than 20,000 children gained coverage between 2000 and 2012, leaving an estimated 140,000 children younger than 19 uninsured. Of those, more than 70 percent are eligible but not enrolled in SCHIP, known in Ohio as Healthy Start.
“We certainly have more work to do. We still have 100,000 out there,” said Sandy Oxley, chief executive officer of Voices for Ohio’s Children, a statewide advocacy group.
Oxley credited recent state initiatives with helping more children get enrolled and stay enrolled. For example, Ohio allows use of the same application and renewal forms, and permits 12 months of continuous eligibility. The state eliminated in-person interview requirements and dropped asset tests in some cases.
Created in 1997, SCHIP is a joint federal-state program for children whose families have incomes that are modest but not low enough to qualify for Medicaid, the state health-care program for the poor and disabled. States set eligibility limits and other criteria within federal guidelines, with the federal government paying 70 percent of coverage costs and states picking up the rest.
Under Ohio’s program, children with household incomes up to twice the federal poverty level — $47,100 a year for a family of four — are eligible for coverage.
“Residents and leaders across Ohio should be proud of the many steps that have been taken to provide coverage to more of our children,” said John McCarthy, director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid.
Nationwide, the number of uninsured children fell more than 600,000 from 2010 to 2012. Ohio, with the eighth-largest decline, was among 40 states with a reduced number of uninsured children. In the other states, the number grew.
The report — released amid the bungled rollout of the Affordable Care Act — predicted lower uninsured rates in 2014 as Ohio and other states expand Medicaid and federal tax credits become available for those with higher incomes to purchase coverage through online marketplaces.
“Those who are already eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP coverage today are likely to become insured as a result of a ‘welcome mat’ effect — more families enroll in coverage as awareness of new coverage options grows and the expectation exists that everyone should be covered,” the report said.
SCHIP’s success could provide lessons for the federal health-care law, which requires most Americans to have coverage by 2014 or face tax penalties, the report noted.
“The ongoing progress in reducing the number of uninsured children underscores that a strong commitment to advancing coverage at the federal and state level can work. Despite the persistently high poverty rate for children (22.6 percent in 2012) and a weak economic recovery, children’s access to health coverage is improving steadily, thanks in large part to Medicaid and CHIP.”
