NC Healthcare Coverage Blog

A recent study on children without health insurance showed that in many cases, at least one of their parents is covered by insurance. More than 3 percent of were not insured: 1,380 of 39,588 children. In about 90 percent of cases, the insured parents of kids with no coverage had a private plan instead of government healthcare. Most of the uninsured children whose parents were covered came from low-or middle-income families. It was found that 25 percent were of Hispanic background. This indicates that private insurance is too expensive for many working families. In most of these low- or middle income families, it was found that it was the kid and not the parent that was insured. 

Unfortunately, there are 9 million children in the nation with no health insurance coverage. This lack of healthcare coverage for children can have severe consequences, such as going without medical care or prescription medications.

Researchers recommend increasing public outreach and retention efforts to keep eligible children enrolled in public insurance benefits. They also suggest expanding the “State Children’s Health Insurance Program” (SCHIP).   Expanding partial assistance programs was also recommended to help make private coverage more affordable for families who prefer coverage for everyone under one plan.