Commentary: The number of New Mexico’s children without health insurance declined by about 16% in the year following the Affordable Care Act taking effect but the state still has a large number of uninsured children, according to a new report by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families and the New Mexico Center for Law and Poverty.
“Improvements in health care coverage for New Mexico’s children are not only good for kids and families, they are good for New Mexico’s schools, health care system and economy,” said Abuko Estrada of the New Mexico Center for Law and Poverty. “When children have health care coverage, they are able to get the care they need to show up for school ready to learn. Their families are able to take them to the doctor when they are sick so they don’t need to rely on more expensive hospital care when they get sicker.”
The report authors attribute the success in reducing the number of uninsured children to Medicaid and the fact Governor Martinez accepted the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid option to cover more uninsured adults. States that accepted the ACA’s Medicaid option saw nearly double the rate of improvement in the number of uninsured kids than other states.
Extending Medicaid coverage to low-income parents helps children by reducing the number of uninsured kids, boosting families’ financial security, and enabling children to get better care from healthier parents, according to researchers at Georgetown University.
“It was a smart decision by New Mexico’s leaders to expand Medicaid because helping uninsured parents provides a direct benefit to uninsured children,” said Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University research center. “Children thrive when their parents are healthy and economically secure so improvements in health coverage for parents benefit the whole family.”
The latest research shows children with Medicaid coverage were less likely to drop out of high school and were more likely to graduate from college. They also had better health and economic success as adults making them less reliant on safety net programs.
New Mexico still has an estimated 36,000 uninsured children. Families who would like help enrolling their children in affordable health plans should call 1-800-283-4465 or visit www.yes.state.nm.us.
Link to report: Children's Health Insurance Rates in 2014: ACA Results in Significant Improvements