Uninsured rate for children dropped during pandemic, federal data shows

The rate of children without health insurance declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely the result of a provision passed by Congress that barred states from dropping anyone from Medicaid during the public health emergency (Source: “More Children Have Gained Health Insurance During Pandemic,” Pew Stateline, Sept. 21).

According to an analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau data by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families, the child uninsurance rate in 2021 was 5.4%, compared with 5.7% in 2019, the year before the pandemic took hold.

The center described that change as a “small but significant decline,” equating to 200,000 more children with health insurance in 2021 than in 2019. Overall, about 4.2 million children were uninsured in 2021, according to the analysis.

The data comes from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, which provides annual estimates of income, education, employment, health insurance coverage and housing costs and conditions for U.S. residents. The Census Bureau did not release standard results in 2020 because of difficulties in data collection in the pandemic’s first year.

The Georgetown analysis speculated that the downward trend in child uninsurance was the result of Congress’s provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, passed in March 2020, that prohibited states from involuntarily dropping anyone from Medicaid, the health plan covering lower-income Americans.