New research shows states that have expanded Medicaid are seeing a surge in the number of parents with health insurance, compared to little change in uninsured rates in states like Tennessee that have not opted for expansion. Photo credit: Images Money/Flickr
When it comes to parents who have health insurance, there is a growing gap among the states – with a stark difference in coverage trends between those that have expanded Medicaid and those that have not. A new report finds that states with expanded Medicaid coverage have seen the insured rate for parents jump by 33 percent on average. In states with no expansion, such as Tennessee, there has been no significant change. Genevieve Kenney, co-director of the Health Policy Center for the Urban Institute, says there are implications for the children when their parents lack insurance. “You can imagine that they delay getting health care, and perhaps go without needed health care, because they can’t afford it,” she stresses. “And the nature of those unmet health needs can affect their ability to effectively parent their children.” Tennessee is one of about two dozen states that have thus far declined the federal funding to expand Medicaid, although Gov. Bill Haslam has said the state may submit a proposal this fall. The plan would need approval by both federal officials and the state legislature. Despite the importance of health insurance to parents and their children, Kenney says whether states have expanded or not is a decision that has fallen largely along party lines. “There’s been so much focus on, and so much rhetoric around, the politics of the Affordable Care Act,” she points out. “Maybe not quite as much focus on the human dimension, and what is at stake for families.”
