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Health Services Financing and Utilization
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health care financing
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In 2004, 8.3 million children younger than 18
years of age had no health insurance coverage; this represents 11.2
percent of the child population. Almost 30 percent of children were
publicly insured by sources such as Medicaid and the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Children’s insurance status varies by a number
of factors, including family income and race and ethnicity. Non-Hispanic
White children had high rates of private insurance coverage in 2004
(77.3 percent), while fewer than half of Black and Hispanic children
had private coverage during the same period (48.0 and 42.9 percent,
respectively). Black children were the most likely to have public
coverage (48.0 percent), while Hispanic children were the most likely
to be uninsured (21.1 percent). Rates of private coverage rise and
rates of public coverage and no coverage fall with increasing family
income. Children with family incomes below 100 percent of the poverty
level were the most likely to have public coverage (66.8 percent)
or be uninsured (19.4 percent), while they were the least likely
to have private coverage (20.2 percent); the majority (85.7 percent)
of children with family incomes of 200 percent of the poverty level
or more were privately insured.
In 1997, SCHIP was created in response to the
growing number of uninsured children in lowincome working families.
In 2004, over 6 million children were enrolled in SCHIP. Although
designed to cover children with family incomes below 200 percent
of the poverty level, many States have expanded eligibility to children
with higher family incomes.
> Bar
Chart: Health Insurance Coverage Among Children
Under Age 18, by Race/Ethnicity and Type of Coverage: 2004
> Bar
Chart: Health Insurance Coverage Among Children
Under Age 18, by Poverty Level and Type of Coverage: 2004
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Child Health USA 2006 is not copyrighted. Readers are free to duplicate and use all or part of the information contained on this page. Suggested Citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
Child Health USA 2006. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006. |