A new study by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute finds that about 828,000, or 2.2 percent, fewer children were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP nationally at the end of 2018 compared to the year before.
Such a large drop is unusual and is unlikely to be driven by a strong economy pulling more children into private insurance plans, the report says. Instead, the decrease is likely connected to the “repeal of the individual mandate penalty, reduced funding for outreach and consumer assistance, anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy, and administrative procedures have led to losses of coverage for eligible children.”
The map below, from an article in the Desert News about the new study, shows state-level changes in enrollment in 2018.
