Dr. Michele Pickett, with the Lifespring Community Health ClinicFrom 2008 to 2010, the percentage of people with health insurance dropped in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, with Tennessee seeing the greatest percent decrease in the insured population, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
However, all three states saw an increase in the percentage of children covered by health insurance.
Those numbers, released last week, mirror national statistics as families saw their income levels drop during the economic downtown, according to Kim Bailey, the research director with the health advocacy group Families USA.
Adults lost their health insurance as they lost their jobs, but their children became eligible for state insurance programs because the family now has a lower income, Bailey said.
“What this data really shows is that Medicaid is working as it was intended,” Bailey said. “It is there to assist families as they need it.”