The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
This analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau data on health insurance coverage examines the details behind a 2.2 million increase in the number of uninsured Americans, by age and income. After years of steady declines, the number of uninsured children has grown by 1 million over the past two years, according to the issue brief.
The analysis shows that 48 percent of the increase in uninsured children from 2005 to 2006 was among families with incomes between 200 and 399 percent of the federal poverty level (which was roughly $40,000 to $80,000 for a family of four in 2006). Most children in this income group are not eligible for public coverage under current rules. The share of youth covered by employer-sponsored insurance declined by 1.2 percentage points, but there was no change in the share of youth covered by Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Free. 11 pages. (650) 854-9400, http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7694.pdf.
