Kentucky Health News
In 2018, the number of Kentucky pre-schoolers without health insurance was about half again as large as the number in 2016, one of the largest increases in the country over that time.
Researchers at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., found that 4 percent of Kentucky children under 6 lacked insurance in 2018. In 2016, it was 2.7%. In percentage points, Kentucky's increase was the nation's fifth largest.
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| Chart by Stateline, Pew Research Center |
Kentucky's percentage did remain less than the national average, but got much closer to it. The national figure rose from 3.8% to 4.3%.
Kentucky was one of seven states where the uninsured rate for children under 6 was higher than the rate for those 6 to 18.
Kentucky was one of seven states where the uninsured rate for children under 6 was higher than the rate for those 6 to 18.
Ten other states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and West Virginia — also had significant increases, alarming health officials and experts,
"The first years of life play an outsize role in human health. They are foundational to the development of the brain and the cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems. Early childhood is when medical interventions to correct problems in any of those areas are most likely to succeed," Michael Ollove writes for Stateline, a publication of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
"The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children visit the doctor at least 14 times before they turn 6 years old. During those visits, they should receive speech, hearing and vision tests, as well as screenings for genetic disorders and the possible effects of trauma or toxic exposure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children under 6 receive numerous vaccinations, including for hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, chicken pox, and measles, mumps and rubella."
Al Race, deputy director at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, told Ollove that a lack of health-insurance coverage often leads to a lack of health care, and can allow health problems to persist into adulthood instead of being corrected: “The earlier you can catch them, the easier it is and the better results you’ll have to put things back on track.”
"The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children visit the doctor at least 14 times before they turn 6 years old. During those visits, they should receive speech, hearing and vision tests, as well as screenings for genetic disorders and the possible effects of trauma or toxic exposure. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children under 6 receive numerous vaccinations, including for hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, whooping cough, polio, chicken pox, and measles, mumps and rubella."
Al Race, deputy director at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, told Ollove that a lack of health-insurance coverage often leads to a lack of health care, and can allow health problems to persist into adulthood instead of being corrected: “The earlier you can catch them, the easier it is and the better results you’ll have to put things back on track.”
from KENTUCKY HEALTH NEWS https://ift.tt/39Xe71m
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