BOISE, ID – The sharp rise in uninsured children in Idaho was among the highest increase in the nation in recent years, according to research from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families.
The analysis finds the number of uninsured kids in the state rose from 6% to 8.1% between 2022 and 2024.
Ivy Walker, policy associate with Idaho Voices for Children, said that’s because the state had one of the fastest timelines for Medicaid unwinding, referring to when the program reverted to pre-COVID eligibility requirements in 2023.
She said nearly 50,000 Idaho kids lost health coverage from Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program in the process.
“About 73% of the children that were removed from Medicaid and CHIP during the unwinding was because of procedural reasons,” said Walker, “meaning they weren’t ineligible, it’s just parents or caretakers didn’t fill out paperwork in time.”
Walker said the issue has been exacerbated because the state is low on health care providers.
The number of U.S. kids without health coverage had decreased steadily for a decade, until the unwinding process began in 2023.
The Georgetown Center’s Executive Director Joan Alker predicted that upcoming federal changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which affect state financing of Medicaid, will curtail health care access even more.
“The storm clouds are gathering for people who rely on public health insurance and Medicaid,” said Alker. “But for children, sadly, they are already here.”
Walker’s organization is urging the Trump administration to extend advanced premium tax credits, which lower health care costs for low-income families.
An analysis by Idaho Voices for Children finds that without the tax credit, an Idaho family of four making $60,000 a year would see an annual health premium increase of more than $2,700.
“These are major costs that are going to put a huge burden on Idaho families who are already having major anxiety about the cost of living,” said Walker. “So if Congress really wants to step up and ensure that this nation’s kids are healthy, then they really need to extend these advanced premium tax credits.”
