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Health insurance coverage declines: more children uninsured despite state's economic gains.

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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Health insurance coverage for Montana children has decreased over the past four years, according to U.S. Census data. The percent of Montana children of all ages lacing private or public health insurance went from 14 to 16 percent over a four-year period ending in 2005. Children below the federal poverty level had some of the biggest declines in health insurance coverage, going from an uninsured rate of 19 percent four years ago to 29 percent by 2005. This change represents 4,000 more low-income children joining the ranks of Montana's uninsured.

Double-digit increases in health insurance and increased employee shares of premiums for working parents have contributed on the cost side to the increasing number of uninsured kids and families. The state of Montana has responded to higher uninsured rates through initiation of the Insure Montana Program for small employers and expanded coverage of the Children Health Insurance Program and for mothers with young children in the Medicaid program.

Figure 1 compares uninsured trends for Montana children to the rest of the nation using three-year averages of Census Bureau survey data. The uninsured rate for kids nationally has been essentially constant over a four-year period ending in 2005. Health insurance coverage for Montana children deteriorated over the same period, with the state's uninsured rate for kids increasing from 14 percent to 16 percent by 2005. This uninsured rate represents 37,000 Montana children without...

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