A new report from Georgetown University found the uninsured rate for young children is at its highest point in nearly 10 years, with Georgia among three large Southern states accounting for more than half the national increase in uninsured children.

The report showed the uninsured rate for children under 6 rose from 4.3% to 5.3% between 2022 and 2024, adding nearly 220,000 young children nationally.

Brittney Newton, senior policy analyst for the group Voices for Georgia’s Children, said the Medicaid “unwinding” played a major role.

“Beginning in 2023, states had to review eligibility for every Medicaid enrollee and many families lost coverage during that process," Newton explained. "Not because they were no longer eligible, but because of administrative issues, things like missing paperwork, incomplete forms, or overall communication breakdowns.”

Georgia has launched outreach campaigns, including “Stay Informed, Stay Covered,” to help families navigate the renewal process. But Newton stressed families often receive renewal notices difficult to understand, arriving too close to deadlines or sometimes not arriving at all. More than half Georgia’s children are covered by Medicaid or CHIP.

Elisabeth Wright Burak, senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families and lead author of the report, said the loss of coverage is especially harmful for infants and toddlers.

“Young children have much more frequent checkups in their earliest months and years of life to check their developmental progress and make sure we can catch any concerns or delays before they get to school,” Burak noted.

The report found uninsured rates were highest for young children of color, with American Indian and Alaska Native children under 6 facing a 10.5% uninsured rate nationally.

Newton pointed to potential solutions, including presumptive eligibility, which allows places such as Head Start programs or schools to temporarily enroll eligible children while the state processes official applications. She called for more transparent age and county-level data to help with targeted outreach.

Source: Public News Service