Red states hate children

Right here’s one of many least shocking developments of 2023: The “pro-life” crimson states combating hardest to drive ladies to offer delivery are additionally hell-bent on making life depressing for younger households. 4 such states made headlines up to now few weeks for demonstrating simply how a lot they need youngsters to endure.

Iowa and Nebraska determined that food-insecure children could make it by means of the summer time with out further help. The states have declined to take part within the federal Summer season Digital Profit Switch for Kids, often known as Summer season EBT, in 2024. This system offers households an additional $40 per baby every month in the summertime to make sure that children who depend upon faculty lunches are nonetheless fed. Collaborating states are required to pay half of the executive prices of this system, which might value about $2.2 million in Iowa, in line with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds and the state’s training division.

“Federal COVID-era money profit applications aren’t sustainable and don’t present long-term options for the problems impacting youngsters and households. An EBT card does nothing to advertise diet at a time when childhood weight problems has turn out to be an epidemic,” Reynolds mentioned.

The reply to childhood weight problems is seemingly ravenous the tykes, so far as Reynolds is worried. However Reynolds didn’t have any qualms about spending the state’s cash when it got here to unsuccessfully defending a harsh abortion ban in court docket.

Iowa’s estimate of the price could be a bit of excessive, since neighboring Nebraska estimates it might solely have to supply about $300,000 to obtain about $18 million in federal meals help for youngsters—help the state is selecting to forego. However all these children shall be simply nice, mentioned Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen.

“We will feed all these children approach higher than this federal program,” he mentioned, as a result of they’ll get meals in the event that they go to highschool or get “fed at a church camp or in a church.”

Different “pro-life” states are proving that it’s actually not about defending the youngsters by disenrolling them from Medicaid. Congress didn’t lengthen pandemic-era protections for adults and youngsters on Medicaid after the pandemic declaration expired, so states have been free to start out dumping the thousands and thousands who gained well being care protection. Most states have used the quite a few federal choices accessible to maintain individuals coated, however many crimson states—together with those who refused to increase Medicaid below the Inexpensive Care Act-–have been kicking individuals out of protection by the thousands and thousands. That features 3 million youngsters in complete, in line with the Division of Well being and Human Providers, or HHS.

9 crimson states account for 60% of the children who’ve misplaced Medicaid or Kids’s Well being Insurance coverage Program protection since April, when the “unwinding” from the pandemic protections started. Based on HHS, the ten states that haven’t expanded Medicaid have kicked extra youngsters out of protection than the 41 states (together with Washington, D.C.) that took the ACA growth.

Florida eliminated 800,000 individuals from its Medicaid rolls in 2023, together with 360,000 children. About half of these 800,000 misplaced protection not as a result of they had been now not eligible however due to administrative crimson tape, like not having up to date contact data. The Florida Coverage Institute, a nonprofit coverage advocacy group, calls the mass lack of protection for youths “a baby medical insurance disaster.”

Likewise, ruby-red Idaho has rushed to take well being care away from youngsters. Again in 2018, voters compelled the state to just accept the Medicaid growth by means of a poll initiative, however that doesn’t imply Republican officers are joyful about it. Idaho is tied with South Dakota for the best baby elimination price, with 57,000 youngsters shedding well being care protection.

That’s simply the best way it goes, Idaho Division of Well being and Welfare spokesperson A.J. McWhorter implied in a press release, saying the company adopted federal regulation in its unwinding.

“Idaho cares about our households and notably our kids, however Medicaid state and federal eligibility necessities exist for good cause,” McWhorter mentioned.

The Republican leaders in these self-proclaimed pro-life states are as soon as once more proving that caring for youngsters and households has by no means been their precedence.

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