High-quality, affordable health care helps parents work and support their children. Unfortunately, in North Carolina approximately 500,000 people don’t earn enough to buy private health insurance but earn too much to qualify for Medicaid. Closing the health insurance coverage gap would provide parents and prospective parents the improved health and access to the care they need to thrive, which in turn improves children’s health and development.
One of the best indicators of a children’s health is the health of their parents. Access to health care is linked to significant declines in infant mortality and an increase in access to prenatal care. Furthermore, parents who have health insurance are more likely to make sure their children are covered and receiving regular check-ups and preventative care. Consistent health coverage is critical for young children’s healthy physical, social and emotional development.
Key Things to Know:
- 15% of parents of infants and toddlers are uninsured.
- Closing the coverage gap would expand access to insurance to more than 100,000 parents.
- 9.2% of babies are born at a low birth weight, and the infant mortality rate is 7.2 per every 1,000 births, which is one of the top 10 highest infant mortality rates in the country. Expanding access to health insurance and improving women’s prenatal health would lead to healthier pregnancies and babies.
- 1 in 5 early childhood educators is uninsured.