Children's Health Insurance 2001

Shailesh R Bhandari, U.S. Census Bureau
Elizabeth J. Gifford, Pennsylvania State University

Recently, ensuring that children have health insurance coverage has attracted much attention from policy makers and the public. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's expansions to Medicaid allowed more children to qualify for the program. In addition, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program increased states’ flexibility in providing coverage to low-income children. Still, in 2000 12.0 percent of children (individuals under the age of 18) were uninsured (Mills, 2001). This report investigates patterns of children’s health insurance coverage and explores characteristics of uninsured children. Specifically, we examine the demographic characteristics and family composition of uninsured children in 2001. Using the data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) we provide national estimates of the number and percentage of uninsured children by age, race and ethnicity, nativity, geographic location and by family income. Because eligibility for the Medicaid program varies by a child’s age and disability status, children within the same family may have different health insurance coverage. This report examines the distribution of uninsured children within families that have multiple children. We report the percentage of families a)with at least one uninsured child, b) where all of the children are uninsured and c) where there is a combination of insured and uninsured children.