NV near the top of a bad list: Children without health insurance

About 55,000 children in Nevada were without health insurance in 2022, according to Census Bureau data. 

In 2022 Nevada tied with Arizona, Alaska and Wyoming as states with the second-highest percent of children without health insurance, at 8%. Only Texas, at 11%, had a higher percentage of uninsured children, according to recently updated data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Nationally, 5% of children were uninsured.

Nevada’s uninsured children rate was been steady at 8% from 2017 to 2022, with the exception of 2021 when it was 9%.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island shared the nation’s lowest percentage of uninsured children, at 2%. California, Oregon and Washington along the West Coast were among several states at 3%.

Health care coverage for children improves development and success in school where they’re more likely to finish high school and attend college and earn higher wages, according to a Georgetown University Center for Children and Families analysis on health care access. 

The Nevada Division of Insurance (DOI) regulates health insurance and ensures the state is compliant with state and federal regulations, but it notes that the cost of insurance even with subsidies and the lack of providers plays a role in children being uninsured.

“The reasons for high national rankings for Nevada uninsured children are unlikely to be any different than the reasons for high uninsured rankings for the Nevada population in general. Cost will always be a factor,” Elizabeth Martins, the public information office for DOI, said in an email to the Current. “Despite the premium subsidies that are available based on income, lower-income families still need to make the decision to insure their children.” 

The impact on Nevada children isn’t felt equally across income brackets. For children from households with incomes below $34,304, the uninsured rate is 7.7%. For children from households with incomes between $34,306 and $62,147, the rate is 9.1%.  Children from households with incomes of $62,150 or above have a lower uninsured rate of 6.5%, according to the Georgetown analysis.

It is also not equal across race. Hispanic/Latino populations have the highest uninsured children rate in Nevada at 10.3%. Black and multi-racial children have rates at 6.9% and 9.9%, respectively, with both rates increasing from 2017 to 2022, according to the analysis.

The Asian/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander population has the lowest rate of uninsured children at  5.2% followed by white Nevadan children at 6.1 %. The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to requests for comment about the state’s rankings in the study.