Even during a time when the economy was notably strong, Illinois lost ground in ensuring that children have access to health coverage. An annual report by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families reveals in 2019, roughly 120-thousand kids in Illinois were uninsured – a 46-percent increase from 2016. Illinois ranks third among states for the largest increase in its number of uninsured children, adding roughly 38-thousand, and Cook County ranked among the top counties nationally for highest numbers of kids without health coverage. The report cites federal policies for much of the change. The data on uninsured kids was collected before the pandemic, and is expected to increase due to the number of people who’ve lost employer-based health insurance.
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