By Tami Luhby, CNN Updated 12:03 AM ET, Wed
October 30, 2019
(CNN)The number of uninsured children ballooned by
more than 400,000 between 2016 and 2018, an unprecedented decline in health
coverage for the youngest Americans, a new study has found.
Roughly 4.1 million
children were uninsured in 2018, up from a low of 3.6 million in 2016,
according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, citing
US Census Bureau data. Their uninsured rate jumped to 5.2% last year, up from
4.7% in 2016.
Another Census study
shows a similar increase, with the uninsured rate for kids increasing to 5.5%
last year, up from 5.0% two years earlier.
The trend is particularly
troubling because it comes during a period of economic growth when more
Americans are gaining employment, said Joan Alker, the center's executive
director. She fears even more children will lose coverage if the economy
falters.
"Much of the gains
in children's coverage that came about as a result of the Affordable Care Act
have now been reversed," Alker said.
The national uninsured rate for all Americans also rose last year for
the first time in nearly a decade, according to the Census Bureau. It increased
to 8.5% in 2018, up half a percentage point a year earlier. Some 27.5 million
people were uninsured last year, a jump of 1.9 million.
Several factors have
contributed to the bump in uninsured rates for children, the center says. They
include: efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act and cut Medicaid, delays in
funding the Children's Health Insurance Plan, the effective elimination of the individual mandate penalty, cuts to
Affordable Care Act enrollment outreach and advertising and an increase in
state-based eligibility checks for Medicaid.
Also, the Trump
administration's crackdown on immigration has discouraged parents from
enrolling eligible children in public programs, leading to a rise in uninsured
Latino children in particular.
The Affordable Care Act
helped improve children's coverage rates by increasing the likelihood that
children would be enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP when their parents obtained
insurance, simplifying enrollment, funding outreach efforts and establishing
the individual mandate, which required most Americans to be insured or pay a
penalty. Congress set the penalty to $0 starting this year.
Health insurance is vital
for children, particularly young ones, experts say. They need immunizations and
developmental screenings, as well as routine and preventative care.
"For children who
are uninsured, I worry about the critical services they are missing out on and
what it will mean for their short- and long-term health," said Lanre
Falusi, American Academy of Pediatrics national spokesperson.
In addition to declines
in Medicaid coverage for children, fewer were enrolled in the individual market
-- which includes the Obamacare exchanges -- between 2017 and 2018, likely a
result of higher premiums. Insurers hiked rates that year in part because of
uncertainty created by efforts by President Donald Trump and congressional
Republicans to repeal the landmark health reform law.
The coverage loss was
greatest among white children and Latino children, some of whom may fall into
both categories, and for kids under age 6. Also, children in families between
138% and 250% of the federal poverty level -- or about $29,000 to $50,000 for a
family of three -- saw big declines. The majority of uninsured children qualify
for either Medicaid or CHIP but are not enrolled.
A larger share of
higher-income children are also uninsured, likely because of rising premiums in employer-sponsored coverage, Alker said.
Fifteen states, led by
Tennessee, Georgia and Texas, saw the number and/or rate of uninsured children
increase.
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