Uninsured Children: How We Count Matters

Abstract

Different definitions and measures of who are uninsured can project radically different pictures of the magnitude of the problem. As this study shows, including the part-year uninsured more than doubled the estimated uninsured child population for 1999, and increased the estimated aggregate uninsured months by 71%. As potential users of public coverage, children who have no insurance for part of the year should be included when evaluating challenges to and accomplishments by the State Children's Health Insurance Program and other public programs. Their significant numbers and the potential burden they place on the health care delivery system argue for them to be counted and for the causes and consequences of short-term uninsured spells to be better understood.