Coverage Rates Stabilize for Children’s Health Insurance: State Policy Change May Be Needed to Address Remaining Children Without Insurance

This brief uses data from the American Community Survey to estimate children’s health insurance coverage from 2008–2013 across the United States as well as by region, place type, and type of coverage. Author Michael Staley reports that decreases in rates of private insurance coverage among children were offset by increases in rates of coverage by public insurance in 2013, keeping national coverage stable at 92.9 percent. Rates rose in the West, continuing a trend since 2008. However, at 91 percent, rates among children there are still lower than in the Northeast and Midwest, where rates have stabilized above 94 percent. In addition, children in rural places are less likely to have insurance than children in central cities or suburbs. Staley concludes that state-level policy changes that are aimed at increasing the number of insured children may be the most effective at increasing the overall number of children insured nationally

After Years of Decline, Private Health Insurance Rates Among Children Grew in 2014

In this fact sheet, author Michael Staley reports that rates of private health insurance coverage for children increased between 2013 and 2014 for the first time since 2008, the first year in which the American Community Survey collected data on health insurance. Between 2008 and 2014 (the most recent data), rates of children’s coverage grew nearly 4 percentage points; to 94 percent. Growth in public insurance, such as Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), was largely responsible for these gains (up 10.8 percentage points since 2008), while rates of private insurance coverage fell concurrently (down 5.6 percentage points)

More Than 95 Percent of U.S. Children Had Health Insurance in 2015

In this brief, author Michael Staley examines rates of children’s health insurance across the United States, by region and by place type, breaking down rates by private and public coverage. He reports that over 95 percent of all U.S. children under age 18 were covered by some form of health insurance in 2015—the highest share since the American Community Survey began measuring insurance rates in 2008. Rates of coverage increased between 2014 and 2015 in all four U.S. regions, and the greatest growth occurred in the South and West. Growth in public insurance—Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program— remained a major driver of increases in children’s coverage: over 375,000 more children were covered in 2015 than in the previous year. For the second consecutive year, however, rates of private health insurance coverage increased among children: in 2015, approximately 150,000 more children were covered by private insurance than in the previous year. The author concludes that any future attempts to reform health insurance ought to be scrutinized for their impact on children’s health insurance

Hispanic Children Least Likely to Have Health Insurance: Citizenship, Ethnicity, and Language Barriers to Coverage

This policy brief examines health insurance coverage of Hispanic children and its relationship to their citizenship status, their parents’ citizenship status, parents’ insurance coverage, language spoken at home, and their state’s Medicaid expansion policies. Using the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey collected in 2014, authors Michael Staley and Jessica Carson report that Hispanic children are less likely to have health insurance than black or white children, a gap that is explained by differences in citizenship status between Hispanic and non-Hispanic children. Noncitizen Hispanic children are nearly three times more likely to be uninsured than Hispanic citizen children living with citizen parents and more than three times more likely to be uninsured than citizen children living with noncitizen parents. Hispanic children who do not have an insured parent are seven times more likely to be uninsured than Hispanic children with at least one insured parent. In conclusion, they suggest policy considerations that might incrementally reduce the number of uninsured children

Total children covered by health insurance increased in 2009

This brief uses data collected in 2008 and 2009 from the U.S. Census Bureau\u27s American Community Survey (ACS) to examine changes in overall insurance coverage rates, as well as changes in types of coverage, and differences by region, state, and place type. The data show that together with new and more inclusive parameters for children\u27s health insurance coverage, rates of children\u27s health insurance have grown during the final year of the recession. Authors Jessica Bean and Michael Staley of the Carsey Institute discuss the complex factors contributing to the shift from private to public health insurance among children. The authors conclude that, because those who have health insurance are healthier overall and, more importantly, because healthy children are more likely to become healthy adults, focusing on covering eligible children should remain at the forefront of the nation\u27s agenda

Health Insurance Among Young Adults Rebounds Post Recession: More Become Dependents on a Parent\u27s Plan After ACA Extends Coverage to Adult Children

While much of the existing research explores young adults\u27 insurance only in the post-recession period (that is, 2010 to present), authors Michael Staley and Jessica Carson assess young adults\u27 rates of coverage within and beyond the context of the recession by examining changes across the entire 2007 to 2012 period

Rates of public health insurance coverage for children rise as rates of private coverage decline

This brief uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. The authors report that, nationally, private health insurance for children decreased by just under 2 percentage points, while public health insurance increased by nearly 3 percentage points. Rural places and central cities witnessed significant declines in rates of private health insurance for children in nearly every region. Rates of public insurance coverage rose in every region and place type. Children’s health insurance coverage overall continued to rise in 2010, increasing by 0.6 of a percentage point since 2009, and 1.9 percentage points since 2008

New system for bathing bedridden patients

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