Arkansas led the nation in the reducing the number of uninsured children in that state between 1997 and 2004, but Texas and Oklahoma lagged behind the rest — ranking last and next to last, respectively, in the percentage of children without health insurance.
A report, “The State of Kids’ Coverage,” released Aug. 9 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows that about 17.5 percent of children ages 17 and under lack coverage in Oklahoma, 5.1 percent fewer than in 1997. In Texas the percentage of uninsured children is 20.7 percent. In Arkansas, the number of uninsured children dropped by 60 percent during the study period.
The foundation released the report to kick off its Covering Kids & Families’ Back to School Campaign, a nationwide effort to enroll eligible children across the nation in public coverage programs during the back-to-school season.
The report shows that, nationally, fewer children are receiving private health insurance, which is supplied mostly through their parents’ employer-sponsored health plans. The percentage of children who have private health insurance has fallen by 5 percent since 1997-’98; some 1.4 million fewer kids have private health insurance.
According to the study, the states with the biggest decline in percentage of children having private health insurance include New Mexico (-23 percent), Mississippi (-23 percent), Alaska, (-23 percent), Oklahoma (-19 percent) and Wyoming (-17 percent).
The Associated Press reported that during the study period, the numbers of Oklahoma children covered by the Medicaid-sponsored SoonerCare program grew by 81 percent.
Uninsured kids are twice as likely not to receive any medical care in a given year, compared to children with insurance (12.3 percent insured versus 25.6 percent uninsured), the study found. More than one in three (35 percent) uninsured children do not have a personal doctor or nurse — which is significantly higher than children who have health coverage (13.5 percent).
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Survey Shows Majority of Florida, California Homeowners Seeing Higher Insurance Costs 
Chubb to Acquire MGA Healthy Paws From Aon 
South Carolina Ringleader Sentenced to 8 Years for Staged Accidents 
FBI Says Chinese Hackers Preparing to Attack US Infrastructure From This Issue
