Public News Service
By: Eric Tegethoff
According to the new report by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, the rates of insured children nationwide reached a historical high of 95%. Oregon contributed to this historical rate, as between 2013 and 2015, it reduced the rate of uninsured children from 5.8% to 3.6%.
Elizabeth Cushwa, from Children First for Oregon, attributes this decline to the Oregon Health Plan, which still has room for improvement. Likewise, Joan Alker, the executive director of CCF and co-author of the report, attributes it to Medicaid and CHIP under the Affordable Care Act.
…
The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found that between 2013 and 2015, Oregon’s uninsured rate for kids dropped from 5.8 percent to 3.6 percent, which added an extra 19,000 children to the number of insured through a variety programs and policies. Elizabeth Cushwa with Children First for Oregon said that’s good news for kids not just now, but later in life too.
Alongside important state programs, Joan Alker, executive director of Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and co-author of the report, credited the unprecedented number of children now covered to the implementation of major provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
“We see success around the country,” Alker said; “and I think this speaks to how, despite all of the fighting and very intense partisanship around the Affordable Care Act, we can feel good as a country that we’ve come together through Medicaid, CHIP and the Affordable Care Act and really reduced the number of uninsured children.”
…
Read more here
