Public News Service
By: Suzanne Potter
A new report from Georgetown University shows that 15,000 kids in Arizona gained health insurance in 2016 – leaving 119,000 still uninsured. That’s an 11-percent drop from last year – the fourth largest drop in the nation.
Researchers from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families say that the percentage of kids who now have health insurance in Arizona and in the U.S. as a whole is at a historic high, and they largely credit the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
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Joan Alker, author of the report and executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, says having health insurance is a huge lifelong benefit to children and society.
“We know that having coverage is important for children because research shows that these children have better access to needed health services, better educational outcomes and even better economic and health outcomes as adults,” she explains.
Alker says she’s also disappointed that Congress has so far failed to renew funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as KidsCare in Arizona. That funding expires Saturday.
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