NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Mike Osborne) -- A troubling new report released last week shows the number of Tennessee children without health insurance was expanding even before the pandemic began.
The study was conducted by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.
Researchers used census data to determine that roughly 80,000 Tennessee children lacked health insurance in 2019. That was an increase of 38 percent over the previous four years.
The report’s authors note the decline in the number of uninsured comes after decades of increasing coverage.
The uninsured rate is likely much higher today, given that some 870,000 Tennesseans have lost jobs since the health crisis began in March.
