The NSCH asked parents if their child currently had any kind of health insurance, including HMOs or government plans such as Medicaid. (In this survey, health insurance did not include coverage through the Indian Health Service.) Overall, over 91 percent of children have current health insurance coverage. This rate does not vary substantially by location: 91.3 percent of children in urban areas have coverage, compared to 91.5 percent of children in large rural areas and 90.3 percent of children in small rural areas.

In general, rates of coverage increase with increasing family income. The rates by location vary slightly within each income level, although the pattern is not consistent across incomes. For instance, children with family incomes below the Federal poverty level (FPL) are most likely to be insured in small rural areas (88.6 percent) and least likely to be insured in urban areas (84.4 percent). Conversely, children with family incomes of 400 percent of FPL and above are most likely to be insured in urban areas (97.4 percent) and least likely to be insured in small rural areas (94.2 percent).

With regard to race and ethnicity, White children, children of multiple races, and children of other races are most likely to be insured, followed closely by Black children; Hispanic children have the lowest health insurance coverage rates. As with income, rates by location vary within each race, although there is no consistent pattern across races. Among White children, insurance rates are highest in urban areas (95.0 percent) and lowest in small rural areas (91.5 percent); however, rates among Black children are highest in small rural areas (94.8 percent) and approximately equal in large rural and urban areas (92.4 and 92.6 percent, respectively).