More kids found coverage with health law
Expanded coverage under the federal health law apparently drove a significant decline in the number of uninsured children in Minnesota, a new report finds, with the state’s coverage gains for kids outpacing those in most other states.
The number of Minnesota children lacking coverage fell from about 86,000 in 2013 to fewer than 48,000 in 2014, according to the report being released Thursday from researchers at the University of Minnesota.
Nationally, the uninsured rate among children age 0 to 18 fell from 7.5 percent in 2013 to 6.3 percent in 2014, with Minnesota’s rate falling from 6.3 percent to 3.5 percent.
Declines were expected since the federal Affordable Care Act in 2014 expanded public health insurance coverage and provided tax credits to many buying private coverage. But the magnitude of coverage gains in Minnesota was surprising, researchers said, and noteworthy because the benefit was concentrated among low-income and nonwhite residents.
“This drop from 2013 to 2014 is really historic,” said Elizabeth Lukanen, a public health researcher at the U. “We feel pretty confident that we can attribute these gains to the Affordable Care Act.”
The new report can’t prove a link between coverage gains and the health law, but Lukanen said the link seems particularly strong in Minnesota where the state opted to expand eligibility in public insurance programs. The state also created the MNsure health insurance exchange, she said, which heavily advertised coverage options for 2014 and coordinated a statewide network of health insurance counselors.
Coverage for children’s health care needs is becoming more important as the cost of care continues to rise, and studies show links between better health outcomes and insurance coverage.
“It’s likely the case that more children gained coverage as eligible parents signed up for free or low-cost health insurance, and we’re likely to see that trend continue,” said Lynn Blewett, director of a research center at the U that compiled the report, in a statement.
Overall, the numbers in the report are encouraging, particularly for the gains seen in coverage for low-income children in the state, said Liz Doyle, associate director of TakeAction Minnesota, a policy group that supported Minnesota’s efforts to implement the Affordable Care Act.
At the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Jim Schowalter credited community groups and county workers who “do the hard work of helping Minnesotans figure out what they qualify for,” said the trade group’s chief executive in a statement.
