A new analysis of 2022 census data has revealed a troubling trend: The rate of uninsured children in Pennsylvania worsened during the last full year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2023 State of Pennsylvania’s Children’s Health Report found that more than 145,000 children are without health insurance.
Becky Ludwick, vice president of public policy at the Pennsylvania Partnership for Children, noted that despite continued Medicaid coverage and other flexibilities during the public health emergency, Pennsylvania is among several states seeing a decline in the rate of children accessing health insurance.
“We’ve seen the uninsured rate get worse for children; it rose to 5.2%,” Ludvik reported. “And that’s a pretty significant increase over the previous year, which was 4.4%. And we were surprised because we expected at least stable or improving coverage, as many other states have seen during this last round of censuses.”
Ludwick pointed out that children face greater barriers to accessing health insurance compared to adults. The exact reasons for this disparity are unclear, but the data suggest that some children may not be properly enrolled in Medicaid, despite being eligible.
Ludwick expected that next year’s data could show an even more troubling decline in coverage, so they are calling on the Department of Human Services to take several actions they believe could help better connect children to coverage.
“The first is to immediately restore coverage for children who lost coverage during the repeal of Medicaid’s continued coverage provision, due to an error in the way the state determined eligibility,” Ludwick recommended.
Ludwick added that they are also recommending that the Department of Human Services provide children from birth through kindergarten with continued health insurance coverage over multiple years. She further called for policy changes to ensure seamless access to health insurance between Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Disclosure: Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children/KIDS COUNT contributes to our fund for reporting on children’s issues, early childhood education, education and health issues. If you would like to help support public interest news, click here.
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New county-level data shows Kentucky is facing a serious shortage of workers in sectors that support children, including teachers, counselors, child care providers, social welfare workers and others.
Sarah Vanover, director of policy and research for Kentucky Youth Advocates, said more than a million children in the state are feeling the effects of fewer education professionals. According to the report, less than half of the state’s kindergartners entered school ready to learn last school year, and schools are facing declining math and reading proficiency rates.
Vanover explained that part of the workforce problem is that jobs in the children’s sector tend to require a lot of work for little pay or benefits.
“These are also high-stress positions,” Vanover pointed out. “Working with large groups of children, trying to support parents, working long hours, and maybe not having someone to come after you; you have to work overtime or longer hours when you least expect it.
There is also a persistent shortage of mental health professionals who accept Medicaid, at a time when one in six teenagers in Kentucky has experienced depression or anxiety. Advocates are urging policymakers to increase reimbursement rates for mental health services and expand the state’s Medicaid network for mental health care.
Liz McQuillen, policy director for Metro United Way, said working parents pay more than 30% of their income on child care, and 79 of the state’s 120 counties are classified as child care deserts. Although the need for child care providers is high, centers struggle to recruit and retain staff due to low wages.
“In Kentucky, they make an average of $12.39 an hour, and that’s really dismal,” McQuillen noted.
She added that Kentucky could raise wages and benefits using federal aid funding. According to the report, one in nine families in Kentucky had to leave work or adjust their work schedule because of inconsistent child care.
Keagan Dulaney, a Louisville high school student and member of the Kentucky Youth Advocates’ health ambassador program, said kids want their voices heard when it comes to policies that can improve their lives.
“Kids are aware of these issues and have something to say about it,” Dulaney emphasized. “Just to make sure that everyone has access to the data, so they can make a change.”
Disclosure: Kentucky Youth Advocates/KIDS COUNT contributes to our fund for reporting on budget policies and priorities and children’s issues. If you would like to help support public interest news, click here.
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More American children had health insurance during the pandemic than ever before. But now, as states are required to re-enroll those eligible for Medicaid, the number of uninsured has skyrocketed.
Nowhere is that more true than in Texas, where half a million children have already lost coverage since the so-called rollout began in April.
Stacey Pogue, senior policy analyst at the nonprofit policy institute Every Texan, said that during COVID, federal regulations prohibited states from involuntarily removing individuals from Medicaid, which benefited children.
“Now that they’ve expired, we’re back to business as usual in Texas, and Texas has become ground zero for kids who lose health care during the furlough,” Pogue explained. “It’s likely that most still qualify even though they’ve lost Medicaid.”
The Georgetown University report uses state-by-state data from the 2020 Census. The number of uninsured American children will drop below 4 million in 2022, for the first time in 15 years.
Overall, 21 states saw statistically significant declines in the rate or number of uninsured children, with Wyoming, North Dakota, Utah, New Mexico and Texas seeing the biggest improvements. Nonetheless, Pogue noted that more than one in five uninsured children live in Texas, more than any other state.
“It’s abundantly clear from this report and this data that when federal law required Texas to remove the barriers that parents face in trying to get their children covered and keep their children covered, the rate of uninsured children dropped significantly,” Pogue said. . .
Valerie Borum Smith, a pediatrician in Tyler, said insurance gaps play a big role in whether parents seek help for their children, who she noted have experienced crisis after crisis in the past few years.
“The annual pandemic, the national youth mental health emergency, and the ‘triple epidemic’ of COVID-19, influenza and RSV last fall,” Borum Smith pointed out. “It’s more important than ever that patients like me have reliable access to care.”
Disclosure: The Georgetown University Center for Children and Families contributes to our Children’s and Health Reporting Fund. If you would like to help support public interest news, click here.
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More young people in Tennessee are experiencing poor mental health and symptoms of depression, and suicide attempts are on the rise.
According to the latest report from the Sycamore Institute, in 2021, nearly one in four high school students in Tennessee have thought about suicide.
Brian Stresl, the institute’s executive director, said the report found that many young Tennesseans have some form of mental health problem and that more must be done to help them.
“Some of the latest data from 2021, I think about 30 percent of high school students said they experienced some days with poor mental health in the past month,” Stresle said. “And 40% said they had experienced some symptoms of depression during the previous year.”
Straessle explained that the report is the first of three that will be released over the next year, all with a focus on Tennessee. The next will cover existing resources and services, and the third will highlight potential policy solutions.
If you or a loved one is experiencing a mental health crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or the Crisis Text Line by texting the word “HELLO” to 741741.
According to Straessle, the report showed a gender disparity, with high school girls in particular reporting more instances of poor mental health and depressive symptoms compared to boys. However, he said the data shows that boys are more likely to act on their feelings.
“When you look at suicides and suicide attempts or having suicidal thoughts and then suicide, it was much more common among young men,” Straessle explained.
The Institute is holding a virtual briefing today with a panel discussion on the latest research, prevention and resources for youth mental health.
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