The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
On August 28, 2007, the Census Bureau reported that the number of nonelderly uninsured had increased by 2.1 million in 2006.1 Of the 2.1 million non-elderly uninsured, 1.4 million were adults and 710,000 were children (age 18 and under). In this paper we show that children experienced declines in employer-sponsored coverage at all income levels. The largest growth in uninsured children (48%) occurred among those in middle-income families (between 200 and 399% of poverty) because there was no increase in Medicaid and SCHIP to offset the decline in employer sponsored coverage. Coverage of children in this income range is part of the current debate over SCHIP reauthorization. Adults also experienced declines in employer-sponsored coverage at all income levels, though smaller than for children. In contrast to children, however, public coverage is not generally available to adults, even at low incomes. As a result, nearly half the growth in uninsured adults was among those with incomes below 200% of poverty.
This research was conducted for the Kaiser Family Foundation and can be downloaded from the KFF web site at http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7694.pdf
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1DeNavas-Walt, Carmen, Bernadette Proctor and Jessica Smith. "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006." U.S. Census Bureau, August 2007.
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Disclaimer: The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.
