January/February 2017Vol. 17, No. 10Health-Care Coverage of U.S. Children at Historic Rate

The number of children with health insurance coverage in the United States reached a historic rate of 95.2 percent in 2015, according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute's Center for Children and Families (CCF). The key findings of the CCF October 2016 report include the following:

• About 1.7 million children gained health-care coverage between 2013 and 2015—the time period coinciding with implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010—representing a drop in the rate of uninsured children from 7.1 percent to 4.8 percent.
• All groups of children saw an increase in health coverage, regardless of age, ethnicity, race, or family income level.
• Health-care coverage rates went up in 41 States, and declined in only one—Wyoming.
• Hispanic children and children whose families live between 100 and 200 percent of the Federal poverty level continue to have the highest rates of uninsurance.
• Half of all remaining uninsured children in the United States reside in the South, with almost one in five living in Texas.

The report, Children's Health Coverage Rate Now at Historic High of 95 Percent, can be accessed at http://ccf.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Kids-ACS-update-11-02-1.pdf (624 KB).