Number of uninsured children rising for first time in decade
After years of steady decline, the number of U.S. children without health insurance rose by 276,000 in 2017.
After years of steady decline, the number of U.S. children without health insurance rose by 276,000 in 2017.
Too few doctors accept Medicaid, and foster families also face the challenge of coordinating treatment decisions between government welfare agencies and biological parents.
Some states are facing a mid-January loss of funding for their Children’s Health Insurance Program, despite spending approved by Congress in late December that was expected to keep the program running for three months.
Alabama plans to drop 7,000 children from coverage on New Year’s Day, the first step to shutting down coverage for everyone, as the result of U.S. Congress’ failure to restore federal funding of the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Until Congress renews CHIP, states are cut off from additional federal funding that helps lower- and middle-income families.
Although it started as a plan to cover only the poor, Medicaid now touches tens of millions of Americans who live above the poverty line.
A U.S. federal-state program that provides healthcare children in lower- and middle-class families is up for renewal later this month, but many fear it could get lost in the shuffle or that conservative lawmakers will seek to limit its reach.
Medicaid covered 45 percent of children and 16 percent of adults in small towns and rural areas in 2015, according to a new report.