Children's Health

Why It’s Important

We know that investments in children’s health coverage are returned many-fold over the life of a child. Children with access to coverage are more likely to grow up healthy, do better in school, and be ready to contribute to the future work force. They also receive regular preventive care, which ensures that small medical problems do not become costly emergencies.

Knowing the benefits of health coverage for children, CDF-Minnesota works with policy-makers, advocates and the public to ensure every child is covered. Such investments are critical not only to the future success of our children, but also to the future of our families, our communities, and our state.

Minnesota’s Challenge

Minnesota now has 88,000 uninsured children and thousands more who are underinsured. With the economic downturn and ever-rising health costs, more Minnesota families cannot afford coverage.

To address this problem, CDF-Minnesota, in coalition with several other Minnesota health care advocacy organizations, developed the “Minnesota Health Security Act” (MHSA), which was introduced in the 2009 state legislative session. Based on the “Children’s Health Security Act,” which successfully passed the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2007 but did not become law, the MHSA charts a clear path to affordable, guaranteed health care coverage for all Minnesotans, starting with children.

The legislation would first ensure that all Minnesota children have access to health coverage by a certain date, and then study ways to provide coverage to all Minnesota adults. It emphasizes preventing illnesses before they occur and eliminating the administrative barriers that now prevent Minnesotans from getting the coverage and care they need. The coverage would be voluntary.

During the 2009 session, legislation did enable 22,000 more children to gain access to MinnesotaCare as a result of provisions that reduce cost and administrative barriers. These provisions are paid for out of existing funds in the Health Care Access Fund, which pays for MinnesotaCare.