The Bush administration’s new estimates on the number of uninsured children are inconsistent with the facts, the reality of states grappling to
provide coverage to uninsured children, and the need for strong federal action on SCHIP reauthorization.
Some nine million children in the United States lack health care coverage, according to commonly-cited, respected sources. Widely-regarded, peer reviewed literature on the number of uninsured children eligible for coverage suggests that some 3.7 million children are eligible for Medicaid and 1.7 million are eligible for enrollment in the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. In contrast, the Bush administration now maintains that nationwide only 1.1 million uninsured children are eligible for public coverage.
