Children's Health Insurance Coverage: 4 California Stats
In light of the upcoming Medi-Cal expansion for undocumented children on May 16, ITUP continues to put a spotlight on children’s health insurance coverage during this historic month.
In February of this year, the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) released a new report, “State Level Trends in Children’s Health Insurance Coverage.” SHADAC, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, analyzed data from the American Community Survey (ACS) to show coverage trends nationwide and at the state level. In this post, ITUP highlights key findings about the Golden State.
By the Numbers: Children’s Health Insurance Coverage in California
- -209,796: California had the greatest decline in the number of uninsured children between 2013 and 2014, with a drop of nearly 210,000.
- 553,725: Despite gains in coverage, California still had the second largest count of uninsured children in 2014, after Texas.
- 3.1%: California saw a statistically significant drop in uninsured Hispanic children, with more gains in private coverage (1.9%) than public (1.2%).
- 7.3%: Despite improvement Hispanic children in California still had the highest rate of uninsurance in 2014 compared to white children (4.0%) and non-white children (4.1%).
SHADAC noted that even though the primary target of the coverage provisions of the ACA is the adult uninsured population, ACA implementation has affected children as well through (a) general enhanced awareness of public coverage options due to broad-based ACA outreach initiatives and (b) direct outreach to the families of children who are eligible for Medicaid/CHIP or subsidies through a health insurance marketplace.
The SHADAC report compares coverage for children from 2013 to 2014—before and after full implementation of the ACA’s coverage provisions—and documents five-year coverage trends at the state level using data from 2010 through 2014.
Read more about the report and SHADAC here.