Oklahoma's improvement in child uninsured rate is best in the U.S., researchers say
The report, released Wednesday by
The organization, described as a nonpartisan policy and research center, credited the drop to the implementation of Medicaid expansion in
"
"The state still has a ways to go," she added.
At 44th,
But the recent improvement "is really good news for children," Alker said.
Nationally, the child uninsured rate declined from 5.7% to 5.4% between 2019 and 2021, according to census data examined by the researchers.
The state-by-state analysis found an improvement in the rate and/or number of uninsured children in 12 states while it stabilized in most other states.
Only three states went in the wrong direction, the report stated, with
While
About 75,000
The protection, which ensures that Medicaid coverage must remain in place while the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency continues, is expected to last at least until
"The state could implement what's called continuous eligibility specifically for our child population, which would allow kids who are insured by Medicaid to have 12 months of continuous coverage regardless of small income fluctuations or not meeting administrative requirements," she said.
Another helpful action, Morris added, would be to make more children eligible for Medicaid.
"There are several other states with higher eligibility levels," she said. "So
Medicaid expansion took effect in
Alker said: "We've seen this phenomenon in other states. We call it the 'welcome mat' effect. What that means is that even though many of these children were already eligible for Medicaid in
"This is great news whenever it happens, but especially in
Among demographic groups in
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