More than 40 percent of American children are on public health insurance — mostly Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. This statistic is something of a triumph for public policy. Since 1989, the number of uninsured children has dropped from 15 percent to 6 percent, in large part thanks to the CHIP, which was spearheaded by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) (Hillary Clinton helped.)
Studies show that investing in health care for children delivers long-term benefits. As public health insurance expanded in the 1980s and 1990s, researchers found that children became become more likely to finish high school and college. They earned more as adults and paid more in taxes.
There's another, less-comforting lesson we can learn from the government's efforts to provide health care to every child. During emergency-room visits, children on public health insurance are less likely than children on private insurance to be admitted to the hospital.
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