Millions of kids in US have inadequate health care coverage: study

LOS ANGELES -- Inadequate health coverage is a particular problem for commercially insured children, according to a new study released by the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

The research, published in the JAMA Health Forum, suggests that coverage gaps are affecting publicly insured children as well.

Using representative data from the 2016-2021 US National Survey of Children's Health, the researchers analyzed parent- or caregiver-reported information on health insurance data for children from age 0 to 17 and also compared changes during COVID-19, identifying inconsistent and inadequate coverage within each insurance type.

They found one in five children in the United States have inadequate health insurance. Inadequate coverage is particularly high among kids with commercial insurance.

According to the study, more needs to be done to protect commercially insured families against high out-of-pocket costs for child's health care and make sure that benefits networks are sufficient to meet children's needs.