n 1997, Arkansas created the ARKids First Program, an expansion of Medicaid to cover children in low-income working families up to 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Since that time, Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families (AACF) has worked with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and other statewide partners to reduce the number of children in the state who lack health insurance. Our outreach and enrollment efforts have been a model for many states in the nation and have been among the most successful. Arkansas has realized drastic reductions in the percent of uninsured children (from 19 percent in 1996 to 10 percent in 2003).

The chart on page 2 shows each state and a comparison of their 1996 uninsured rate for children to the 2003 uninsured rate for children. Arkansas has decreased its percent of uninsured children by 9 percentage points which ranks them first in the nation along with South Carolina for reducing the percent of uninsured children. Arkansas has seen a 47.4 percent decrease in the percent of children uninsured during this seven year time period.