Publications by Victoria Lynch for Health Policy Center

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This report provides detailed demographic information on Virginia's uninsured population in 2009, including data on their income, employment status, race, ethnicity, age and citizenship, and region of residence. Between 2008 and 2009, 47,000 nonelderly adults in Virginia became newly uninsured, though there was no significant change in the number of uninsured children, due in part to increased coverage through Medicaid and CHIP. Overall, 13.2 percent of Virginians (889,000 total) under the age of 65 lacked health insurance in 2009. The majority of Virginia's uninsured are US citizens and live in working families, but most are in low-income families.

This latest edition of our annual chartbook series for New York State features detailed information about differences in insurance coverage and uninsurance around New York State and within New York City. Overall, 12.9 percent of New Yorkers (889,000 total) under the age of 65 lacked health insurance in 2009, unchanged from the previous year despite an ongoing recession. Data for 14 separate regions across New York State, including the five boroughs of New York City and for 55 separate neighborhoods within the city itself show enormous variation in health insurance coverage across the state.

The number of children eligible for and enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP increased in recent years. As a consequence, the number of eligible but uninsured kids fell by about 340,000 between 2008 and 2009. Rates of participation in Medicaid/CHIP increased, from 82.1 to 84.8 percent nationally, with sixteen states achieving participation rates of 90 percent or higher in 2009. This report suggests that the high participation rates among children over the past few years are likely due in part to ongoing federal and state policy efforts aimed at improving enrollment and retention among children.

This paper provides national and state level estimates of Medicaid/CHIP participation rates and of the number of uninsured children who are eligible for the program based on 2008 data from the American Community Survey. The results point to a national Medicaid/CHIP participation rate of about 82 percent, with varying participation rates across states and amongst groups of children. As of 2008, an estimated 4.7 million uninsured children were eligible for Medicaid/CHIP but not enrolled, of whom about 60 percent were concentrated in 10 states.

This chart book provides national and state level estimates of uninsured rates and of the number of uninsured children based on 2008 data from the American Community Survey. The chart book documents the substantial variation in uninsured rates across states with uninsured rates among children ranging from a low of 1.7 percent in Massachusetts to a high of 20.1 percent in Nevada. The chart book also shows variation in uninsured rates across geographic areas within each state and compares the characteristics of uninsured children to those of insured children within the same state.

New data on health insurance coverage from the American Community Survey show extensive variation in rates of private and public coverage and uninsurance across congressional districts in the United States. Rates of private coverage are lowest in districts that have higher poverty rates which tend to be concentrated in the South and West and uninsurance remains most serious in districts with low rates of private coverage. This analysis identifies the districts in which residents would have the most to gain from health reforms that are designed to increase health insurance coverage toward a higher and more uniform national standard.

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