It would seem to be a no-brainer: Extending health care benefits to children keeps them out of the emergency room, eases the impact of killers such as diabetes and asthma, and helps youngsters succeed in school while creating more stable families.
Yet for all the progress New Jersey has made in broadening health-insurance availability to middle-class and poor children in the past decades, a new report finds that nearly 70,000 of our youngest residents have no coverage whatsoever.
Although the Affordable Care Act expanded Medicaid to benefit more of the state's children, about 3.5 percent of our kids still lack coverage, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective.
Most of the uninsured live in our urban counties such as Essex and Hudson, but some rural counties fare no better.
Race and ethnic background also play a role: While 2 percent of white children lack coverage, the rate rises to 3 percent among black kids and 7 percent among Hispanic children - many of whom have no legal status.
Now the progressive think tank has crafted a blueprint for what it calls the underinsured gap for kids, offering lawmakers and advocates ways to ease the burden on families, as well as on the state's public-health system.
The suggestions include ways that families making more than the prescribed income level might be able to buy into FamilyCare - our state's version of Medicaid. That "buy-in" option, still in place in neighboring New York and Pennsylvania, went away four years ago under Gov. Chris Christie.
Another important component of the report would change state statutes to permit undocumented children to participate in the program.
Unfortunately, that's likely to be the most controversial aspect of the NJPP report, given the frenzy of anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping the country, coupled with the divisive (read: draconian) policies the White House has insisted on enforcing.
But in addition to being the humane thing to do, extending health-insurance coverage to undocumented youngster would also be a financially sound strategy, given that the cost of charity care drains more than $230 million from the state's coffers every year.
With the proposed changes, nearly 35,000 children would qualify for Medicaid, based on their family's income.
State Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), chair of the Senate Health Committee, says he is willing to sponsor legislation that would broaden the program to undocumented children. It's an offer we hope Vitale's fellow lawmakers will consider long and hard in the coming months.
It's also encouraging that the committee working on Gov. Phil Murphy's transition team is weighing in, urging the new governor to craft a plan for dealing with the issue within 100 days.
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