Georgia among states driving rise in uninsured young children

Georgia is among three large Southern states that account for more than half the national increase of uninsured children.

A Georgetown University report found that the uninsured rate for young children is at its highest point in nearly a decade.

Brittney Newton, senior policy analyst for the group Voices for Georgia’s Children, said the “unwinding” of Medicaid is a large contributor to the increase.

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

The state has launched “Stay Informed, Stay Covered,” an outreach campaign to help families navigate the renewal process. Newton said the renewal notices families receive are often confusing or arrive too late, if they come at all.

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 has a severe impact on 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 said.

The report found that young children of color faced the highest uninsured rates with Native American and Alaska Native children under 6 facing a 10.5% uninsured rate nationally.

Newton advocated for more transparent age and county-level data to help with outreach and presumptive eligibility, which would allow places, such as Head Start programs, to temporarily enroll eligible children while official applications are processed.