Research & Reports CHIP Medicaid Coverage Initiatives Early Childhood

Fact Sheet: Medicaid’s Role for Young Children

December 13, 2016 Alisa Chester, Elisabeth Wright Burak

Today, more than 45 million children have coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). For the nation’s youngest children, Medicaid and CHIP play an outsized role, covering 45 percent of children under the age of six, compared to 35 percent of children between the ages of six and 18.