Report: 7 percent of Minnesota children lack health insurance

Minnesota has fallen in the rankings of a national survey of child welfare.

The state came in 5th in the annual Kids Count survey of the health, education and economic status of kids across the nation. It's the lowest ranking for the state in a decade that's found Minnesota's children best off in the nation three times.

The survey has been commissioned annually for the last 23 years by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Researchers said the state improved in some areas, but fell back in others. The state was the only one in the country where researchers found the number of kids covered by health insurance has fallen. The data show that 7 percent of Minnesota kids don't have health coverage.

States ahead of Minnesota in the rankings this year include New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey. North Dakota ranked 6th, Wisconsin ranked 15th, South Dakota 17th and Iowa came in at 8th in the rankings.

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