More than 7,200 Idaho children lost health insurance coverage between 2017 to 2018.
According to a new report from Idaho Voices for Children and the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, Idaho saw the steepest child enrollment decline in the Children’s Health Insurance Program -or CHIP – and Medicaid in the nation, dropping 11 percent between December 2017 and February 2019. At the same time, private coverage rates remained steady.
The Center says the decline in public coverage indicates enrollment declines are driving up Idaho’s rate of uninsured kids. Advocates believe the drop in insured children is largely due to changes at the federal level in the enrollment and renewal processes in Idaho’s CHIP and Medicaid programs that have put new barriers in place for both children and families.
The group notes that low income families are now required to submit more paperwork and overcome additional red tape to access or keep health coverage for their children.
Policy recommendations to further mitigate declines in kids’ coverage include cutting paperwork requirements at renewals for families with children with disabilities on Katie Beckett Medicaid; improving rules governing the renewal process for Idaho families, including more advanced notification and better outreach; and increasing income eligibility thresholds for both pregnant women and children.
Currently, Idaho’s income eligibility thresholds in both categories are far below national averages. (KIFI/KIDK)
