Child and Family Health Facts

While most children and families have health care coverage, a large number remain uninsured.1

• In 2008, 90% of children and 80% of adults had health care coverage, most through an employer.
  
  
• At the same time, 8.1 million children under age 19 and 37.6 million adults (including 11 million parents) were uninsured.

Health coverage is vital to healthy development.

• Children who are uninsured are more likely to go without immunizations and other important services, miss school because of untreated illness, and end up in the emergency room for preventable conditions.2
  
  
• Coverage is important to adults as well, helping them get timely medical care and improving their long-term health outcomes.3

Families are discovering it harder to find and pay for health coverage.4

• In 2009, health insurance premiums rose 5%, more than doubling since 1999. During this time, wages increased 33%.
  
  
• Since 1999, the percentage of employers that offer health coverage has dropped by 6 percentage points, with smaller firms, firms that employ more low-wage workers, and those with a greater number of part-time staff less likely to offer coverage.

Public programs play a critical role, especially for children.

• In 2008, 30% percent of children received health coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Coverage Program (CHIP).5
  
  
• On a smaller scale, approximately 11.8% of adults and 11.6% of parents received coverage through public programs, including Medicaid and CHIP.6
  
  
• Of all uninsured children, almost two-thirds, are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP.7

For more information see:

About Medicaid and CHIP
Facts and Statistics

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Footnotes

1. Urban Institute and Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured estimates based on the Census Bureau's March 2008 and 2009 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements. Back

2. P. Newacheck, J. Stoddard, D. Hughes, & M. Pearl, "Health Insurance and Access to Primary Care for Children," New England Journal of Medicine, 338: 513-519 (1998); L. Olson, S. Tang, & P. Newacheck, "Children in the United States with Discontinuous Health Insurance," New England Journal of Medicine, 353: 382-391 (2005); G. Stevens, M. Seid, & N. Halfon, "Enrolling Vulnerable, Uninsured, but Eligible Children in Public Health Insurance: Association with Health Status and Primary Care Access," Pediatrics, 117: 751-759 (2006); W. Johnson & M. Rimsza, "The Effects of Access to Pediatric Care and Insurance Coverage on Emergency Department Utilization," Pediatrics, 113: 483-487 (2004); and Institute of Medicine (2002), "Health Insurance is a Family Matter," Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Back

3. R. B. Bovbjerg & J. Hadley, "Health Policy Briefs: Why Health Insurance Is Important," The Urban Institute, (November 2007); J. Hadley, "Sicker and Poorer," Medical Research and Review, 60(2): 3S-75S (2002). Back

4. The Kaiser Family Foundation & Health Research and Educational Trust, "Employer Health Benefits: 2009 Annual Survey," (September 2009). Back

5. op. cit. (1) Back

6. op. cit. (1) Back

7. J. Hudson & T. Selden, "Children's Eligibility and Coverage: Recent Trends and a Look Ahead," Health Affairs (August 16, 2007). Back