According to the annual
report on health insurance
coverage released
by the U.S. Census Bureau
covering key locations in the
United States, the number of
children under the age of 19
without health insurance decreased
to 3.9 million in 2021.
There are now 475,000 fewer
uninsured children than there
were in 2020.
Children had coverage from
a number of sources, according
to Health Insurance Coverage in
the United States: 2021. A growing
percentage of children over
the poverty line were covered
by state programs, although
the majority of children (61.9%)
had private coverage, usually
through their parents’ plan.
Medicaid and the Children’s
Health Insurance Program are
two public health assistance
programs that many low-income
children are eligible for (CHIP).
Children and adults with
earnings below a particular
threshold are eligible for Medicaid-
provided health care coverage.
Children in households
with incomes too high to qualify
for Medicaid, but probably unable
to afford private health insurance,
are covered by CHIP.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic,
Congress enhanced
Medicaid funds and passed legislation
to prevent people from
losing their Medicaid coverage
while the country was experiencing
a health emergency.
Congress also sponsored
legislation in 2021 to lower the
cost of Health Insurance Marketplace
coverage in order to
improve access to healthcare
(created by the Patient Protection
and Affordable Care Act or
ACA). Some states have passed
legislation to make it simpler to
apply for ACA coverage.
These adjustments may
have helped more children, including
those living over the
poverty line, receive health coverage.
Between 2020 and 2021, the
percentage of children without
insurance fell by 0.6 percentage
points to 5.0%, thanks to an increase
in public insurance like
Medicaid and CHIP. Children’s
private insurance premiums remained
the same between 2020
and 2021.
In 2021, 35.9% of kids had
Medicaid or CHIP coverage,
an increase of 1.2 percentage
points over 2020. The number
of kids on Medicaid or CHIP
increased by an anticipated
752,000 between 2020 and
2021.
However, there were differences
in how the uninsured rate
and public coverage changed
according on the demographic.
A measurement of family
resources is provided by the income-
to-poverty ratio. Medicaid
and CHIP coverage rates decrease
as the income-to-poverty
ratio rises since these programs
are primarily accessible to families
with little means. Contrarily,
as the income-to-poverty ratio
rises, private coverage rates
rise.
What this does is that it
keeps children that due to the financial
capacity of their parents
cannot be protected under a
reasonable plan. Children in this
situation can be found in key areas
in Southwest Florida.
However, increased public
services during the pandemic
may have helped to reduce
the uninsured rate for kids in
families with incomes at or over
400% of poverty by 0.4 percentage
points (the poverty line in
2021 was around $27,479 for a
family with two parents and two
children).
Private coverage remained
unchanged, while 1.2 percentage
points more children in this
group were covered by Medicaid
or CHIP in 2021, bringing
the total number of children in
this group with such coverage
to 7.0%.
Between 2020 and 2021,
there was no variation in the
rates of private coverage, Medicaid,
or CHIP for children living
in poverty. The 1.5 percentage
point decline in private coverage
of children in the middle-income
group over this time was partially
offset by a 1.9 percentage
point gain in Medicaid and CHIP
coverage rates.
To provide low-income families
with health insurance in
2021, 36 states and the District
of Columbia (collectively known
as “expansion states”) increased
Medicaid eligibility. The remaining
14 states (“non-expansion
states”) did not increase eligibility
by 2021 or earlier.
Around 50 million kids resided
in states that had expanded
their borders, whereas 27
million lived in states that had
not. Children without health insurance
accounted for about
two million (4.0%) in expansion
states and 1.9 million (7.1%) in
non-expansion states.
Changes in children’s direct
purchase coverage in these
states contributed to a 1.6 percentage
point drop in the uninsured
rate for kids living in
non-expansion states between
2020 and 2021.
Children’s direct purchase
insurance rates in non-expansion
states rose by 1.0 percentage
points to 6.0% during this
time, including the 3.5% rate for
coverage obtained through the
Marketplace, which rose by 1.2
percentage points.
In non-expansion states,
neither the quantity nor the proportion
of kids who are covered
by Medicaid or CHIP changed.
Between 2020 and 2021,
there was no change in the proportion
of kids without insurance
in expansion states.
Medicaid and CHIP rates increased
1.6 percentage points
to 35.5% in expansion states,
despite a 0.5 percentage point
decline in Marketplace coverage.
In expansion states, there
were around 691,000 more kids
who were eligible for Medicaid
or CHIP in 2021 than there were
in 2020.
Numerous factors, such as
population demographic shifts,
economic shifts, and shifts in
federal and state policies that
affect access to care, can affect
changes in health insurance
coverage.
Since more children in expansion
states received coverage
through Medicaid and
CHIP and those in nonexpansion
states received coverage
through the Marketplace during
the national emergency, policies
to increase access to care
during the COVID-19 pandemic
may also have helped to lower
the number of children who lack
insurance.
All of these policies helped
cover vulnerable children
around Southwest Florida areas
and more specifically, the
United States at large. Giving
them access to reliable coverage
which in turn dropped child
mortality rates.
