Washington, D.C. – A Georgetown University Center for Children and Families report released today shows that more children in Idaho have health insurance coverage.

“Children learn best when they are healthy and in their seats at school,” said Lauren Necochea, Director of Idaho KIDS COUNT.  “Keeping our children healthy today helps create a strong workforce tomorrow.”

More than 90 percent of our state’s children have health care coverage, which marks an increase in recent years.  According to the report by the Georgetown University research center, Idaho was one of five states with the most improvement in the coverage rate for kids. Between 2010 and 2012 the number of uninsured kids in Idaho dropped from 45,000 to 36,000. This represents a drop in the uninsured rate from 10.5 percent to 8.5 percent. The report attributes the improvements to the success of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in reaching uninsured children.