Maryland Health Insurance Failing ChildrenJune 2008
Even with the focus on providing children with better access to health care, the demise of
family health insurance across the country has negatively affected adults and children alike.
One startling example is in Maryland, where a lack of Maryland health insurance for pregnant women has led the state to be ranked 19th in the well-being of its children.
This might not seem too startling, until you're told that Maryland actually has a lower percentage of children living in poverty than
any other state. How, then, could a state with so few economically disadvantaged children have such a poor track record for their care?
The lack of family health insurance is the key to the problem. While state subsidies can cover kids after they're born, pregnant women are having a harder time getting Maryland health insurance early in their pregnancies. As a result, 9.1% of Maryland's babies were diagnosed with low birth weight in 2005, and in recent years the problem seems to be getting worse.
Low-birth-weight babies are associated with developmental and health problems. They also end up costing the state a lot of money in the long run, a point that should support the notion of better health care for pregnant women, though little has been done to rectify the situation.
Facts on:
Family Health Insurance in America
Did you know...
Maryland ranks 19th in the health and well-being of its children?
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Quality family health insurance services have been waning fast in the last 10 years, as employers find themselves unable to afford high health care premiums. Individual coverage is much more expensive, and harder to qualify for, especially if you're pregnant.
Like Massachusetts, ideas of making
Maryland health insurance mandatory by law have been mentioned, but as yet there isn't a bill in the works. Until then, young children may enjoy the benefits of subsidized health care, but before they're born their pregnant mothers will have to struggle until something changes to make family health insurance more available and affordable.
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