PA uninsured children hit 153,000 as federal funding cuts loom

A new report shows Pennsylvania is seeing its highest number of uninsured children in a decade.

The report examines the state of children’s health insurance, and finds more than 153,000 kids are without coverage in Pennsylvania. The increase is troubling, as it comes at the same time major federal policy shifts threaten to further limit families’ access to health care.

Becky Ludwick, vice president for public policy at Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, said they don’t yet know why the number of uninsured kids has risen, but the figures do show which groups of children are most likely to lack insurance.

“Hispanic children have seen a pretty large increase in the number of uninsured, as well as children who are living in families with lower resources or lower incomes,” she said. “There’s a pretty widening gap that we’re seeing in terms of children who have insurance based off of their family income.”

The uninsured rate for Hispanic children hit 7.3%, the highest in five years. Ludwick noted that kids from lower-income families are more often without coverage, while those in higher-income households are seeing rates drop. Nearly half of all the uninsured children live in seven counties, including Philadelphia and Berks.

Ludwick said nearly half of Pennsylvania children rely on Medicaid, CHIP or Pennie for health coverage. She warned that if the enhanced tax credits that help people pay their insurance premiums aren’t extended past December, families could face sharply higher costs. Many already pay double, potentially leaving more than 50,000 children now enrolled in Pennie without insurance.

“We want to see more parents and families covered, because we know that has a direct impact on whether or not a child is covered,” she said. “And so, if those tax credits are going to expire, families simply won’t be able to afford that coverage.”

Ludwick said the sweeping federal cuts and policy changes enacted by Congress this summer could sharply limit families’ access to health care. With historic Medicaid cuts and new eligibility and work requirements on the way, she warned that many families across the state will soon face even greater barriers to coverage – which will have a ‘ripple effect’ on children.

“The state has projected more than 300,000 Pennsylvanians may lose coverage, and that doesn’t include children,” she said. “Those estimates are really only related to the adults who will be impacted by the changes around work requirements.”

Ludwick urged policymakers to protect and strengthen programs such as Medicaid, CHIP and Pennie, and said she hopes to see a reversal of planned Medicaid cuts and the extension of premium tax credits to help more families maintain their health coverage.

Related: Expiration of ACA tax credits to hit small businesses across Pennsylvania