Iowa News Service
By: Kevin Patrick Allen
Children’s health advocates say there’s little time to celebrate a report that shows the number of uninsured Iowa children dropped by more than 22 percent in 2016 compared to 2015.
The data is on par with national numbers showing a record low percentage of uninsured children. The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families study credits the enrollment of more children in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program – and, to a lesser extent, new coverage through the Affordable Care Act – as the reasons for the progress.
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Report author Joan Alker at Georgetown said the Graham-Cassidy bill now in Congress could reverse those gains.
She says it focuses on cost containment in the wrong areas.
“Medicaid is not the driver of health care costs, it’s things like prescription drugs going up,” Alker said. “So, I’m sure that governors would like new tools that would allow them to control costs, but they’re not getting any of those new tools. So, they are left holding the bag.”
According to Alker, there’s been a 37 percent decrease in the number of uninsured children in the country since 2014. That means 2 million more kids have coverage than just three years ago.
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