Next up in this week’s nursing news is a story on the alarming numbers of uninsured children in the U.S. despite the passing of healthcare reform laws. According to an article I found at KaiserHealthNews.org, the numbers of uninsured children nationwide hasn’t gone down under the affordable care act.
Not All Bad News on Uninsured Kids
A study by the Urban Institute on Health Reform analyzed information from over 2000 pediatric patients and compared the rate of uninsured patients to previous years before the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Even with the health insurance mandate, health insurance marketplaces and more availability of free and low-cost insurance for children, the rates of uninsured was no different before and after the program went into effect.
This may not be all bad news though. According to the experts cited in the Kaiser article, the uninsured rates for children before the ACA went into effect was already pretty low. Other programs to insure care for children had been around for several years and many were already signed up under those programs like Medicaid expansions and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Expanding Health Assessment to Include Insurance Access
Still, there are those out there who have not been signed up for one reason or another. It is projected that at least 80% of the remaining uninsured children out there are likely to be eligible for the expanded Medicaid and CHIP projects that are out there. It is up to us in the healthcare system to help identify them and hook them up with programs to assist them with finding the correct and affordable option that fits them the best.
Keep your eyes open and work with your facility’s social worker or your local health department to connect these individuals to the healthcare coverage they need. It not only helps them have better coverage but keeps costs lower for the entire healthcare system, too.
Make sure you follow-up on the links for this news item and all of the other news and additional resource links from this week’s episode – Cancer Patient Care Failure Study with Gerard van Grinsven and Episode 312.