Yesterday we released our annual report on uninsured children. While childhood poverty remains high, we were happy to report that Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have helped drive the uninsured rate for children down to record lows.
While we celebrate the success of all the community leaders, children’s health advocates, state and federal policymakers, health care providers and religious leaders that have helped achieve this goal, our job is not done. The uninsured rate declined but there are still 5.3 million uninsured children in America. Hispanic children also have a much higher rate of uninsurance than white non-Hispanic children. About 12.1% of Hispanic children are uninsured, compared to 5.2% of white non-Hispanic children.
We know from the research by Urban Institute’s Genevieve Kenney that many uninsured children are eligible but unenrolled in their state Medicaid and CHIP plans. Prior research indicates that there is a high level of interest in enrolling uninsured children in Medicaid and CHIP but that some families lack knowledge about the programs and perceive barriers to the enrollment processes. Language is oftentimes a barrier to coverage so along with our report, we put together this Spanish language audio news release and sent it to radio stations across the country to help Spanish speakers find out more about health coverage options.
Medicaid and CHIP provide needed access to health care for children so they can get the preventive care they need to grow and thrive. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, many of their uninsured parents will now also be eligible for affordable coverage that will improve the financial security of the whole family. Families can call 1-877-Kids-Now for more information or find local help through through this website.
