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it talks about kids be raised and some kids not getting raised right and kids getting help for their health but some of the kids didn't have insurance. 

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it talks about kids be raised and some kids not getting raised right and kids getting help for their health but some of the kids didn't have insurance. 

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socioeconomic

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socioeconomic

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In the article of forgotten children, what do they mean about CHIP supports thousands of children? What is CHIP for?

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How long will the Cover All Kids Initiative last?

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How long will the Cover All Kids Initiative last?

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While the healthcare debate in Utah may have ended with the expansion of Medicaid, children have been left behind. Utah is regarded as a great state to raise children, known for low rates of divorce and many children per family. However, it's one of the worst states for children's health insurance, with over 82,000 Utahn kids left uninsured. Most of those children are eligible for health insurance through Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but still face barriers in getting coverage. This past fall, an effort to pass the Cover All Kids initiative has started again after barely failing to pass in 2021's spring legislative session.

Every child in Utah deserves access to healthcare, regardless of their race, background, immigration status, gender or socioeconomic group. The Cover All Kids initiative is an important step to improving the health and economic welfare of everyone in our state.

Forgotten Children

Medicaid and CHIP both support thousands of children's health needs. The progress made by Medicaid expansions and the CHIP program will help protect children in Utah. And yet, the majority of children who aren't covered are eligible but not enrolled.

However, some groups don't have as much coverage as others. For years, Utah has seen increasing numbers of uninsured children, especially those who are Latinx. In 2019, 90% of Latinx children in Utah did not have insurance. These numbers directly coincide with the anti-immigrant policies passed during the Trump administration. The anti-immigrant rhetoric and actions during the Trump administration resulted in a "chilling effect." This means that thousands of parents, fearing potential deportation, failed to sign their children up for programs such as CHIP and Medicaid.

Utah only covers certain children based on their immigration status. Only six states in the nation have prioritized the rights of all children to healthcare.

COVID-19 has also drastically changed the landscape of children's healthcare. With many parents losing their jobs and healthcare, their children lost coverage as well.

Several technicalities make it difficult for parents to navigate our complicated healthcare system. Our state has no outreach funding for children's healthcare and faced tremendous cuts to funding for navigators, the people who help parents search and apply for children's health insurance.

Cover All Kids Initiative

The Cover All Kids Initiative supported Senate Bill 158, sponsored by Sen. Luz Escamilla. If passed, the bill would have expanded access to families at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. This bill failed to pass the Senate. However, it will be reintroduced during the 2022 legislative session, and the enormous support shown for the bill provides hope that Utah will take this important step in protecting children's health.

Dozens of local organizations have also come to advocate for 100% kids' coverage. Advocates aim to add more coverage to the bill, including following the examples of other states to cover all kids, regardless of immigration status. States such as Washington and New York have passed legislation to expand coverage to children who don't currently qualify in Utah.

These organizations go further to suggest more improvements to the health care system than simply 100% coverage. They plan to continue to stress the importance of Medicaid and CHIP and increase education for parents to find solutions. They also want to keep policies made during the height of COVID-19 to require kids coverage year-round, which significantly helps parents avoid the stress of missing monthly deadlines.

Benefits

Why does covering kids matter? Kids' lives change for the better when they have health insurance, and their status is used to predict their future success in school and work. Health care coverage can also help diagnose conditions early and decrease children's risk of developing preventable conditions. It gives parents peace of mind when their child gets injured, and provides expensive medication and care for children with chronic diseases.

Covering Utah kids also saves taxpayer money. Those 82,000 uninsured kids cost taxpayers approximately $8.8 million annually. Uninsured patients raise health care costs for us all. Because health insurance coverage is linked to better performance in schools, Utah could see an increase in graduation levels. As more and more individuals reach higher levels of education, their jobs could have increased incomes. This could result in millions of dollars added to Utah's personal income, and hundreds of thousands to tax revenue.

With 1 in every 11 Utahns born in another country, we have a large number of community members whose children are left out of health insurance coverage. Prioritizing these families and making a stand against xenophobia in government will help these families and unite our state. No child should be deprived of good health because of their immigration status.

A state's treatment of its children indicates a state's health and well-being as a whole. If Utah continues to let these children slip through the cracks of a complicated, unfair system, then our state isn't as child-friendly as we advertise. Passing the Cover All Kids Initiative will tell the nation that Utah prioritizes its children, and recognize that when all kids are healthy, we all succeed.
@aya61987269

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Hibben: All Kids Deserve Health Insurance

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While the healthcare debate in Utah may have ended with the expansion of Medicaid, children have been left behind. Utah is regarded as a great state to raise children, known for low rates of divorce and many children per family. However, it's one of the worst states for children's health insurance, with over 82,000...

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In the comments below, please answer the following questions with a quote from the text: Why do so many Utah kids not have health insurance? Why is that a problem?

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bc some people cant get jobs

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What is the Cover All Kids Initiative?

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How will the Cover All Kids Initiative help children and teenagers in Utah?

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Hi Reading III students! Please read all the instructions below before responding to the Padlet.

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Hi Reading III students! Please read all the instructions below before responding to the Padlet.

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1. Comprehension Checks: In this section, COMMENT but DON'T POST! There are three questions listed, and I want you to answer them in the comments. Put your NAME first, then COPY & PASTE a sentence from the text that best answers the question – just like when we underline passages in class.

2. New Words: Here, please POST any words in the text that you don't know! You do NOT have to include your name in this section. If you see someone has posted a word you DO know, please COMMENT with a definition or an example!

3. Questions about the Reading: Please POST any questions you have about the article or the topic here! Do include your NAME as the subject line of your posts. Again, if you see a question you can answer, feel free to RESPOND in the comments. :)