Report: Economy threatens progress on health care coverage for children
Ten years of progress on children's health care coverage is threatened by increasing unemployment, declining state revenues and a growing gap between family income and the cost of health care coverage, according to a recent report by Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute. The report by the Institute's Center for Children and Families estimates that 4.1 million Americans, including 1.2 million children, have lost employer-based coverage over the past year. "The nation is at a critical juncture in its commitment to coverage for America's families," the report concludes. "It must decide whether it will sustain and strengthen this commitment or allow it to fall victim to the fiscal pressures confronting states and the federal government." Potential federal actions to address the crisis include temporarily increasing federal support for Medicaid and promptly reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program, set to expire in April 2009, to soften the impact of the economic downturn on uninsured children, the report adds.
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