By Jeff Victor

Laramie Boomerang

Via Wyoming News Exchange

LARAMIE — A new report shows the number of children without health insurance rising in Wyoming between 2010 and 2016, as the national number of uninsured children was cut in half during the same time frame.

Using U.S. Census data provided and interpreted by local professionals, the Kids Count Data Book — published today — shows in both Wyoming and the U.S. as a whole, 8 percent of children were uninsured in 2010. Throughout the next six years, the national figure fell to 4 percent while Wyoming’s figure rose to 9 percent.

One of four measures under the health category, Wyoming’s rise in children without insurance contributed to its ranking as 49th among the states, better than only Alaska.

“When you compare us against the national average, you can see we are worse in every category than the national average,” Wyoming Community Foundation Chief Operating Officer Samin Dadelahi said.

Other health categories included low birth-weight babies, child and teen deaths per 100,000 people and teens who abuse alcohol or drugs.

But the starkest difference between Wyoming and the national average — its percentage of children without insurance — represents roughly 12,000 children who lack any coverage.

Dadelahi said Wyoming’s failure to expand Medicaid following passage of the Affordable Care Act was likely a huge contributor.

“The national average is going to be based on so many states that actually changed their numbers,” she said. “And in so many states that adopted Medicaid expansion, they were able to get more coverage for more people, including children. … And Wyoming did nothing and nothing happened.”

As 33 states and Washington, D.C., adopted Medicaid expansion, the Wyoming Legislature shot down several attempts to expand the federal assistance program for low-income individuals.

“If everybody’s in a race and you’re just standing there, everybody’s moving forward and you’re not,” Dadelahi said.

Senate Minority Leader Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, fought unsuccessfully to bring Medicaid expansion to Wyoming in the State Legislature. The most recent attempt was shot down by the Senate in 2016, despite receiving support from Gov. Matt Mead, a Republican. While Mead was initially opposed to the expansion, he later called on the Legislature to do so.

“We should have expanded Medicaid five years ago,” Rothfuss said. “This is not rocket science.”

Rothfuss added not addressing rising premiums or fully utilizing available Children’s Health Insurance Program funds also contributed to Wyoming’s low rate of health insurance.

“We have some of the highest premiums in the country on health insurance, so people are unable to really afford good health insurance coverage,” he said. “And you look at what the Legislature has try to do to address that in the last decade — when we’ve seen steadily these premiums going up and up and up — we’ve done nothing.”

The Wyoming Department of Health estimated 21,000 people in Wyoming might enroll if Medicaid was expanded.

According to the Kids Count Data Book and information from the Kaiser Family Foundation, just four of the 17 states that have not expanded Medicaid are ranked in the top 25 for health.

Two of those four states — Utah and Nebraska — are currently considering expansion.

The Kids Count report states 2.6 million fewer children were uninsured in 2016, as compared to 2010.

Outside of health, the Kids Count report ranked Wyoming 25th for education, seventh for family and community measures and sixth for economic well-being.

The report is published by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which works with affiliate organizations in every state. The foundation’s Wyoming affiliate, the Wyoming Community Foundation, based its report on U.S. Census Data and with assistance from the Wyoming Statistical Analysis Center.

“We want to be able to provide the information so that stakeholders, communities, policymakers have a place to look and have a place to say, ‘Why are these numbers so different?’” Dadelahi said.