EDITORIAL: Take Advantage Of Health Care Options

Dec. 13--A recent report found that the number of children in the United States without health insurance increased last year for the first time in a decade.

In Pennsylvania, about 125,000 children 18 and younger did not have coverage in 2017, according to Georgetown Center for Children and Families. Pennsylvania's uninsured are the fifth most in the country.

"With an improving economy and low unemployment rate, the fact our nation is going backward on children's health coverage is very troubling," said Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University research center and a research professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy. "There is every reason to believe the decline in children's coverage is likely to continue and may get worse for America's children."

Also troubling is that some of the low-income, uninsured children are eligible for coverage.

Gov. Tom Wolf's expansion of Medicaid made health care available to 700,000 people who previously were ineligible. And the state's Children's Health Insurance Program provides low-cost care to families who earn too much for Medicaid coverage.

The challenge is making sure the parents know the programs are available.

"Medicaid expansion has helped -- we know that parents receiving health insurance make it more likely that their children will be covered -- and we are fortunate to have a strong CHIP program in the state," said Kari King, vice president of Public Policy at Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.

"Some of the remaining 4.4 percent of uninsured children are eligible but just not signed up. It just underscores the need for investing in more outreach and enrollment activities directed at eligible families."

In some cases, families don't apply for assistance, while in others, they may have been told they don't qualify when in fact they do, according to Antoinette Kraus of the Pennsylvania Health Access Network.

We urge parents to take advantage of these programs that offer free or low-cost coverage. To see if you qualify for Medicaid or CHIP coverage, visit www.heathcare.gov.

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