ONE-OUT-OF-FOUR WV KIDS NOT GETTING HEALTH CARE

(08/03/2005)
Despite the CHIPS program, many WV kids are not getting proper health care.

A new report shows that about one out of every four West Virginia children who are uninsured didn't get any health care for a whole year.

Nationally, about one in three uninsured children went without any medical care, preventive or otherwise.

While 33% of Calhoun children are living in poverty, many of that population does access health care through the CHIPS program.

The report, "Going Without: America's Uninsured Children," was released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Plainsboro, New Jersey. The report includes data from 2002 through 2003.

Some of the kids who are not receiving health care are in working families who are not eligible for CHIPS.

Roughly eight-point-four million children in this country have no medical insurance.

The report says the most uninsured children are in the southwestern states, and include Hispanic, Black and Appalachian families.