While the number of uninsured children nationwide is at an historic low, Georgia continues to rank 48th in the country when it comes to making sure children are covered by health insurance. Georgia’s numbers are dropping, just not as fast as those of larger states.

Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families found the nation continues to make steady progress in providing health coverage for children, even though there’s been no reduction in the number of children living in poverty.

According to the center, the number of uninsured children in Georgia dropped by nearly 45 thousand from 2009 to 2011. But researcher Joan Alker says Georgia continues to rank 48th in the nation in the number of kids with health insurance.

Alker says “The national rate of uninsurance for children continues to go down, we are at a historic low in the country of 7.5 percent. But Georgia is above the national average, with 9.5 percent of your children being uninsured.”

She says “Many of those children are actually already eligible for Medicaid or PeachCare for Kids. And the state could remove red tape barriers and reach out to more eligible but uninsured children right now.”

Last year the state was awarded a 2.5 million dollar federal grant to implement technology improvements to enroll children in Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids.

Alker says children most at risk for being uninsured are school-age, live in rural areas and are Latino.

Tags: Medicaid, Georgetown University, PeachCare for Kids, Center for Children and Families, uninsured children