MediKids represents boost for children
The decades-long march toward providing health care for every child in America received a major boost with the introduction of legislation to automatically insure every child at birth.
The MediKids Act, introduced recently by Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) and endorsed by First Focus Campaign for Children and nearly two dozen other national, state, and local organizations, would guarantee free, high-quality health care to every child in America from birth to age 26.
“Children’s health coverage is one of the smartest long-term investments any country can make,” First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley said, “and this legislation could not come at a better time. Children are losing health care coverage at a rapid rate, even as they are gripped by falling immunization rates, unacceptable levels of infant mortality, and an unprecedented mental health crisis. For the last two decades, First Focus Campaign for Children and other advocates have fought for — and won — major gains for children’s health care coverage, most recently restoring the Children’s Health Insurance Program after Congress let it expire in 2017. But the struggle for children’s health has always been a start-and-stop process and MediKids represents the kind of ambitious, child-centered thinking that this moment demands for our children and grandchildren.”
The MediKids program would automatically enroll every child and young adult in America in Medicaid’s robust Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) benefit, which provides comprehensive and preventive health care services for children who are enrolled in Medicaid. In addition, this legislation would:
- Automatically enroll every child in MediKids at birth
- Provide continuous eligibility for children enrolled in MediKids until age 26, regardless of income, immigration status, or health condition
The number of children without health insurance rose to 6.1% of all U.S. children in 2024, according to census data, or roughly 4.7 million kids. Another 2 million have lost insurance since the Trump Administration took office in January 2025, according to Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. The Congressional Budget Office projects that nearly 3 million children will lose Medicaid coverage as a direct result of the One, Big, Beautiful Bill, which slashes more than $1 trillion from the program.
“Every single senior in this country has guaranteed access to health care,” Lesley concluded. “Every child deserves the same.”