WASHINGTON — Many of the 8.5 million uninsured children in the United States are eligible for free or low-cost health care coverage but their families don't know it, according to a report released Tuesday.
The report found that 12 percent of the nation's children are uninsured.
The report was released by Covering Kids & Families, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based on 2002 data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"I've met a lot of parents who were surprised to find out that their sons or daughters are eligible for these health care coverage programs," said Gov. Mark Warner, D-Va. "But in Virginia, and across the country, working families earning as much as $37,000 a year or more may be eligible."
He noted that at least 17 million children are covered by Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which cover routine checkups, hearing and vision screening, prescription medicines and hospitalization.
The survey found that nearly half of all uninsured children had not had a physical examination in the past year and were nine times more likely than insured children to lack a primary care physician such as a pediatrician or family doctor, forcing them to rely on hospital emergency rooms for routine care.
"Without insurance, too many children are missing the regular checkups and preventive care that will prepare them to do their best in school," said Dr. John R. Lumpkin, senior vice president and director of the foundation's Health Care Group. "In this, the richest nation in the world, no child should be without health care coverage."
To help enroll children nationwide in Medicaid and SCHIP, Covering Kids & Families will hold its annual back-to-school campaign over the next two months to inform families about low-cost and free health insurance.
With the help of several corporate partners, the proportion of low-income children enrolled in public insurance programs rose nearly 12 percent between 2001 and 2003, according to a report by the Center for Studying Health System Change.
Each year, Covering Kids & Families puts a special emphasis on informing Hispanic and black families about low-cost and free insurance. Hispanic children are three times more likely to be uninsured than non-Hispanic white children, the foundation's survey said.
"Too many Hispanic children who are uninsured are unnecessarily missing out on basic health care," said Dr. Elena Rios, president of the National Hispanic Medical Association. "We are working to spread the word to Latino families that low-cost and free health care coverage is available for their children. With coverage, children have access to the health care services they need to grow up and be healthy."