U.S., Ohio child uninsured rate jumped last year, report finds

A new national report shows that the number of children in the U.S. without health insurance rose by almost 300,000 last year, with the uninsured rate for Ohio children jumping significantly (Source: “Ohio's Rate Of Uninsured Children Jumped By 20 Percent,” WOSU Media, Nov. 29, 2018).

According to the report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, Ohio was one of nine states that saw a significant increase, at 20 percent.

“Ohio did have one of the worst increases that we saw,” said Joan Alker, executive director of the Center. “There were an additional 21,000 children that became uninsured in 2017.”

Alker said the increase brings the total number of uninsured children in the state to 125,000. She said the increase is due to a decline in public coverage for kids. Researchers at Georgetown believe that the Trump administration’s funding cut for advertising and outreach led to a decline of those areas.