November 22, 2013
By Mike Clifford,
HARTFORD, Conn. – New England states are leading the nation in a new report that compares states’ efforts to get health coverage to uninsured children, but Connecticut has lagged slightly behind the region.
Connecticut’s number of children without insurance increased by about 5,000 from 2010 to 2012.
Tricia Brooks, a research associate professor and senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, which released the report, says part of that drop may be due to children who only have health coverage for part of the year.
“So, we think part of the problem may be churn,” she explains. “That is, children in particular cycling on and off of coverage during the year, and experiencing short gaps.”
A poll also released by the Georgetown Center shows most Americans incorrectly assume the numbers of children without health coverage have gone up, but Brooks says New England states are setting the pace for much of the nation, by increasing access to health coverage.
Joan Alker, the Center’s executive director, says many families can’t afford to buy their own health insurance right now, so it is vital that there are programs out there that are working, and states that are willing to let people know about them.
“Very few Americans are aware of the success that our country has had through Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) in reducing the number of uninsured children,” she says. “And I think that’s an important ‘good news story’ that needs to get out.”
While the number of uninsured children in Connecticut grew from 24,000 to more than 29,000 by 2012, Brooks says the general trend is still positive – because more children have coverage now than did five years ago.
“There are additional things they could to improve kids’ coverage,” she says. “In particular, they could implement something called 12-month continuous eligibility – and that would ensure once a child is on, they stay on for 12 months and wouldn’t experience those short-term gaps. ”
In the Georgetown poll, nine out of 10 Americans agreed that all children in their state should have health coverage.
