The Georgetown University study tracked the uninsured child rate from 2022 to 2024. It found Kentucky’s uninsured rate for children under 6 was 4.6%, below the national rate of 5.3%.
Emily Beauregard, executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health, said children often remain eligible for Medicaid even when their parents lose coverage because the income threshold is higher for children than for adults. She added that changing rules and administrative red tape can create an “unwelcome mat,” leaving families unsure of their options.
“All of the information that they’re hearing in the news about cuts to Medicaid, I think that probably has discouraged some families from applying or renewing their kids’ coverage,” Beauregard observed.
Beauregard pointed out that Kentucky was one of nine states to receive federal permission to delay eligibility renewals and automatically extend children’s coverage for one year after the pandemic. Still, enrollment dropped by 18,000.
Elisabeth Wright Burak, senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said losing health coverage is especially harmful for infants, toddlers, and preschool-age children because they need frequent checkups to monitor their development.
“Since 2025, we’ve seen nearly 2 million kids lose Medicaid coverage or be disenrolled from Medicaid,” Burak reported. “So we’re concerned that this could be a harbinger for what’s to come.”
The reduction in federal Medicaid spending is also driving job losses, including among caseworkers who help parents and other caregivers navigate the system for their children. Beauregard noted it means fewer people are available to take phone calls, answer questions, and process forms.
“When we put more and more paperwork on their plate, they have less time to accurately process that paperwork,” Beauregard emphasized. “That could lead to more errors. So kids will also be impacted in that way.”
The report found that the number of uninsured babies, toddlers, and preschool-age children is rising faster than the number of uninsured school-aged children.
The Trump administration said it is committed to rooting out fraud and wasteful spending in government healthcare programs.
