Children Without Health Insurance Coverage

The number of nonelderly Americans without any form of health insurance increased by 1.1 million individuals — from 39.8 million to 40.9 million — between 1992 and 1993, according to Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) analysis of the March 1992 and March 1993 supplements to the Current Population Survey (CPS). Further analysis indicates that over 900,000 of the newly uninsured population were under age 18, an increase from 10.2 million in 1992 to 11.1 million in 1993. This finding has significant policy implications. Beginning in 1990, all states were required to extend Medicaid coverage to pregnant women and children up to age 6 if their family income was below 133 percent of the poverty level. In addition, states must cover children born after September 30, 1983 in families with income below the poverty level. These requirements should result in most poor children under age 18 being covered by 2002