By Raymond J. Castro

New Jersey’s program for providing health insurance to low-income children is falling short of its promise-especially for the poorest and for minorities, according to a new report.

Falling Short: Time to Keep the FamilyCare Promise, proposes an 8-step action plan to cover more kids and do a better job of attracting federal money available to the state for that purpose. The report was written by NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Raymond J. Castro.

Falling Short finds that the rate at which New Jersey children are insured has gone down over five years, while the national rate increased. New Jersey ranked 44th nationally in health insurance rates for the lowest income kids. And, during that period, there has been a significant increase in racial disparity among uninsured New Jersey children: the number of black youngsters without health insurance increased by 67%; the increase among Hispanic children was 37%. There was also a major increase in middle-class children whose families are being squeezed out of the health insurance market.

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