By Mary Kuhlman
October 28th, 2015
(Indianapolis, Ind.) – While it lags behind other states, a report released today shows that Indiana is making great strides in ensuring children have health-care coverage.
Indiana ranked 42nd nationally for its rate of uninsured children in 2014, according to the research from the Georgetown Center for Children and Families. But the state saw nearly a 13 percent drop in the number of kids without health-care coverage compared with 2013.
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Joan Alker, executive director at the Georgetown center, said embracing the Affordable Care Act and expanding Medicaid were the major factors influencing which states saw greater declines in the rate of uninsured children.
“Many people don’t think about Medicaid expansion as a kids’ issue, but we know from past research that covering parents results in what we call a strong ‘welcome mat’ effect for kids,” she said. “That means when the parent learns about their own coverage opportunity, they may learn their child is also eligible.”
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