Children

Young adults, particularly those ages 18-25, are more likely to be covered as dependents than adults overall (72% vs. 32%). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires most employer plans to allow young adults to remain on a parent’s plan until age 26.

This brief analyzes the latest CDC data on adolescent overdose deaths, finding that from 2022 to 2023, there was a small reduction in overdose fatalities among adolescents (from 721 to 708 deaths). Additionally, the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has largely driven the increase in adolescent drug fatalities since the pandemic began, accounting for 76% of these fatalities in 2023. This analysis also explores federal and state policy responses to the drug crisis, such as requirements to stock naloxone in schools, accountability for social media companies, and national prevention education efforts.

Changes related to Medicaid could have major consequences for health coverage of women with low incomes as well as pregnancy, postpartum and other reproductive health care for women. Here are the top five things to know about women and Medicaid ahead of the election.

Over 25 million people were disenrolled from Medicaid and over 56 million had their coverage renewed, according to KFF’s analysis of the outcomes of the Medicaid unwinding, which nearly all states have now completed.

Using data from the KFF Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, this analysis reports data on unwinding renewal outcomes through June 2024 and examines Medicaid enrollment changes from February 2020 through May 2024, the most recent federal enrollment data available, nationally and across states.

This edition highlights vaccine hesitancy and misinformation around MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccines as children return to school and measles cases resurge in parts of the U.S. It also examines emerging narratives around COVID-19 vaccine misinformation following the FDA approval of COVID-19 boosters and false claims linking mpox to the vaccines.

Education leaders and policymakers are turning to cellphone bans in schools to help address youth mental health concerns and improve learning, an idea that has largely received bipartisan support. Cellphone ban legislation has had a resurgence following advisories from the U.S. Surgeon General on youth mental health and the impacts of social media. Research on the effectiveness of these bans, however, is limited, and challenges with implementation and enforcement remain.

Amid growing concerns about the mental health of children, about one in ten parents say their children are in fair or poor mental health. Rates of mental health treatment and access for children vary by factors such as race and ethnicity, as do experiences with unfair treatment or discrimination.

Schools can play a role in promoting mental health and connecting youth to treatment. One approach that many schools have implemented is social and emotional learning, which teaches skills such as emotional management, resilience, and relationship building. This policy watch discusses how common these programs are in schools, how they are integrated, and what supporters and critics say about social and emotional learning.