A new report from the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families showed a sharp increase in the number of uninsured children under 6 in Arizona.

Nationally, the uninsured rate for children under 6 jumped to more than 5%. In Arizona, 9% of children under 6 are uninsured, according to the report.

Jennifer Burns, director of government relations and health policy for the Children's Action Alliance, said children without insurance lack access to critical emergency care and preventive services, which can mean major medical issues go unidentified.

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“That doctor’s appointment to make sure their eyes are fine, their hearing’s fine, to see if there’s any developmental delays,” Burns explained. “If they’re not seeing the doctor because they don’t have coverage, then some of that stuff may be lost.”

The Georgetown report used data gathered from 2022 to 2024. It found an additional 220,000 babies, toddlers and preschoolers were uninsured in 2024, a 23% increase from two years earlier.

Elisabeth Wright Burak, senior fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, noted Texas and Georgia accounted for more than half the national increase.

“The rate of uninsured children under the age of 6 is now at the highest level it’s been in nearly a decade,” Burak reported. “Between 2022 and 2024, it jumped a full percentage point up to 5.3% nationally.”

Uninsured rates were higher for young children of color. More than 10% of American Indian and Alaska Native children were uninsured, the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group, according to the Georgetown report.