According to a report from Families USA, a health care consumer organization based in Washington D.C., more children living in Indiana had health insurance in 2007 than in 2005.
The report compared U.S. Census data from 2003 to 2005 and 2005 to 2007, reported the Indianapolis Star.
In the first set of data, there were 162,000 children in Indiana without coverage — or 10 percent of the total population.
As of 2007, 131,000 children were uninsured — a drop to 8 percent of Indiana’s population.
So, what’s going right in Indiana?
Mostly, it seems the drop in children’s uninsured rates is due to an expansion of the State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Earlier this year, the state upped income eligibility for SCHIP, a part of Indiana’s Hoosier Healthwise program, from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 250 percent.
But the Families USA report also found that an estimated 48 percent of children who still have no health insurance are eligible for SCHIP or Hoosier Healthwise.
Even though Indiana is doing better than the rest of the country when it comes to insuring children — the national average rate of uninsured children is 11 percent — some think they should be doing better.
One Indiana pediatrician, Dr. Aaron Carroll from Riley Hospital for Children, blamed the parents.
“I can’t say the number surprises me, but it should horrify everyone, ” said Dr. Carroll, reacting to the report’s finding that 67 percent of children without coverage have at least one parent working full time.
“They’re children. They can’t be held responsible for their not having insurance, ” added Dr. Carroll.