| New Children's Health Insurance Data Released |
According to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau today, 7.7% (18,000) of Rhode Island children under age 18 were uninsured in the three year period from 2007-2009. This is an increase from 6.4% in the three-year period from 2004-2006. This increase reflects the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009 and the decline in employer sponsored health insurance in Rhode Island. Rhode Island now ranks 19th in the nation for children's health insurance coverage (where first is the best), down from 14th last year.
Nationwide, the U.S. rate of uninsured children was 10.3% between 2007-2009, better than the 10.8% rate in 2004-2006. The single year U.S. rate for uninsured children in 2009 was 10.0%, comparable to the 9.9% rate in 2008, the lowest rate of uninsured children in the United States since 1987.
Uninsured children are less likely to receive preventive medical care for common conditions, such as asthma and ear infections, that if left untreated can have lifelong consequences and lead to more serious and costly health problems.
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RIte Care Outreach Highlighted as National Model
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Rhode
Island was one of three states highlighted in the video presented at U.S. Health and
Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge event on September 3, 2010. New data by the Urban Institute released at the event show that 83.5% of children who
are eligible for RIte Care are actually enrolled. Rhode Island's Family Resource Counselors (FRCs) and recent Back to School events were featured as important
ways to get children and families enrolled. Read Elizabeth Burke Bryant's blog about the event and join Rhode
Island KIDS COUNT in accepting the Secretary's challenge to make sure that
every uninsured child who is eligible for RIte Care gets enrolled.
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