New research highlights child health benefits in Build Back Better

<h2><strong>Mary Schuermann Kuhlman</strong></h2> <p><strong>Ohio News Connection</strong></p> <p>Health advocates are pressing the U.S. Senate to approve the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376" target="_blank">Build Back Better Act</a>, because it would <a href="https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2021/11/12/build-back-better-legislation-what-does-it-mean-for-childrens-health-coverage-and-care/" target="_blank">improve Medicaid</a> and the <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/medicaid-chip/childrens-health-insurance-program/" target="_blank">Children's Health Insurance Program</a> (CHIP).<br> <br> The bill already has won House approval. It would offer 12 months of continuous coverage to children who qualify for Medicaid.<br> <br> Joan Alker, executive director of the Center for Children and Families, co-authored a <a href="https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2021/11/22/gaps-in-coverage-a-look-at-child-health-insurance-trends/" target="_blank">new brief</a>, which showed during the early Trump years, one in ten children experienced a gap in coverage over the course of 12 months.<br> <br> "After we saw this troubling reverse in the progress we'd made as a country in reducing the number of uninsured kids -- which came to a halt in 2017 and started going in the wrong direction -- the Build Back Better bill would really turn that around and start moving the country in the right direction," Alker asserted.<br> <br> Ohio's rate of children without health insurance rose a percentage point between 2016 and 2019 to 4.8%. Opponents say the $2 trillion Build Back Better Act is too costly. The bill would also permanently fund CHIP, so it would not have to be renewed every few years.<br> <br> In Ohio, children in families of three earning about $46,000 dollars a year or less are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP coverage.<br> <br> Kelly Vyzral, senior health policy associate for the Children's Defense Fund of Ohio, explained the Build Back Better Act would streamline the application process by permanently extendi