More Than 2M Uninsured Children Have at Least One Parent Who Is Enrolled in Employer-Sponsored Health Coverage, According to Study

About three million, or 27.9%, of the 8.1 million uninsured U.S. children have at least one parent with health insurance, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Bloomberg reports. For the report, researchers analyzed data collected by HHS's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2002 through 2005 (Marcus, Bloomberg, 10/21).

The study found that the parents with health insurance typically are covered through a private employer-based insurance system, under which it is too costly for them to cover their families (Dunham, Reuters, 10/21). According to the study, 25% of uninsured children with at least one insured parent are Hispanic, 40% live with a single parent and the majority are in low- and middle-income families (Bloomberg, 10/21). In addition, the study found that insured parents of uninsured children are more likely to have limited or low levels of education and live in the South or the West (Semnani, CQ HealthBeat, 10/21).

Lead researcher Jennifer DeVoe of Oregon Health and Science University said, "I think there's been a myth that all uninsured children have uninsured parents, and so if we cover the parents we can cover the kids," adding, "In most cases the parents have insurance through work at reduced rate or no cost, but adding their family is unaffordable" (Reuters, 10/21).

Suggested Solutions
To address the coverage gap, the study authors suggest "increasing public outreach and retention efforts to keep eligible children enrolled in public insurance benefits, easing prohibitive barriers and expanding the SCHIP." In addition, the authors recommend expanding partial assistance programs to help families afford private coverage to keep everyone under the same plan. According to the researchers, "When family members are covered separately under different plans or when certain individuals have coverage and others do not, children's health declines." The researchers wrote that having a single public insurance program for both parents and their children would be the best economic policy, would most likely provide the most stable coverage for children and would lead to the best health outcomes (CQ HealthBeat, 10/21).