Medicaid’s pandemic-era continuous coverage protections helped reduce number of uninsured children

Medicaid’s pandemic-era continuous coverage protections helped reduce number of uninsured children

Collection:
Health Policy and Services Research
Author(s):
Alker, Joan, author
Osorio, Aubrianna, author
Contributor(s):
Georgetown University. Center for Children and Families, issuing body.
Publication:
[Washington, DC] : Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Center for Children and Families, November 2023
Language(s):
English
Format:
Text
Subject(s):
Child
Medicaid
Medically Uninsured -- statistics & numerical data
Socioeconomic Disparities in Health
United States
Genre(s):
Technical Report
Abstract:
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) for 2022 finds that the number of uninsured children continued to decline over the pandemic period - most likely as a consequence of the continuous coverage protection in Medicaid put in place by one of the first COVID-19 rescue packages, the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-127). The uninsured rate for children declined to 5.1 percent in 2022 - a significant drop from the year before when the uninsured rate was 5.4 percent. Medicaid is the single largest source of coverage for children, and children were protected from administrative churning during the pandemic period. Prior to the pandemic the uninsured rate for children had been rising and it is likely to rise again, absent very aggressive action by federal and state policymakers, now that continuous coverage protections have been lifted and states are reassessing eligibility for everyone covered by Medicaid. The number of uninsured children nationwide in 2022 was 3.9 million, tying 2022 with 2017 for the second-lowest number in recent memory - with the exception of 2016 when continued implementation of the Affordable Care Act helped drive the number of uninsured children to its lowest level at 3.6 million.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
Extent:
1 online resource (1 PDF file (14 pages))
Illustrations:
Illustrations
NLM Unique ID:
9918733186506676 (See catalog record)
Permanent Link:
http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918733186506676