Kansas Child Uninsured Rate Climbs to 8.5%
The share of Kansas children without health insurance rose again in 2025, running above the national average for a second straight year.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Child Care
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The share of Kansas children younger than 19 without health insurance rose to 8.5% in 2025, up from 5.2% in 2022 and 7% in 2024. The U.S. child uninsured rate rose to 6.2% in 2025, and Kansas has now been above the national average for two consecutive years.
Why it matters
Medicaid and CHIP enrollment fell nationally in 2025, and families voluntarily disenrolled children or did not apply for coverage as pandemic-era continuous coverage policies ended. The trend leaves a growing share of Kansas children without routine care, which can affect their health and access to services.
Kansas's child uninsured rate of 8.5% in 2025 sits above the national rate of 6.2%, and the state's rate for Hispanic children rose from 8.6% in 2022 to 16.2% in 2024. Preliminary 2026 data suggests Medicaid and CHIP enrollment continued falling, though final figures for that year are not yet available.
The players
Kansas Health Institute
A Topeka-based nonprofit health policy research organization that produced the report on child health coverage in Kansas.
The details
Families voluntarily disenrolled children from Medicaid or CHIP or did not apply for coverage, as the unwinding of COVID-19 policies that automatically sustained child coverage ended. Reporting also cites aggressive immigration enforcement that led some eligible families to withdraw children from coverage out of fear, along with government red tape, parental confusion about work reporting requirements, and federal program cuts.
Timeline
2022: Kansas child uninsured rate stood at 5.2%.
2024: Kansas child uninsured rate rose to 7%, against a U.S. rate of 6%.
2025: Kansas child uninsured rate reached 8.5%, while the U.S. rate rose to 6.2%.
First half of 2026: Preliminary data suggests Medicaid and CHIP enrollment continued falling.
Family Coverage Context
The rise follows the end of pandemic-era continuous-enrollment rules that had automatically kept children in Medicaid and CHIP. Its effects are most visible in the state's fastest-growing gaps, which have widened among Hispanic and Black children since 2022.
Parents of young children in Kansas may find that a child no longer has coverage, which can affect routine checkups and access to care. Families who believe a child may still be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP can check their status before assuming coverage is unavailable.
The takeaway
Checking whether a child remains enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP can prevent an unnoticed gap in coverage. Families whose children lost coverage may still qualify, so verifying eligibility is a practical first step.
Further reading
For more on family coverage and services, see Child Care coverage across Kansas.
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