Children Without Health Insurance by Poverty Level
Percent of PA Children by Poverty Level Without Health Insurance
< 100% of poverty (<$27,750/year)
< 138% of poverty (<$38,295/year)
< 200% of poverty (<$55,500/year)
< 400% of poverty (<$111,000)
400%+ of poverty ($111,000+)
Source: PPC analysis, U.S. Census Bureau, ACS (1-year estimates), 2022. Income levels using the 2022 federal poverty guidelines based on a family of 4. 6.7% 7.3% 6.9%
6.2%
3.4%
Children in families of all income levels had increases in their uninsured rates since the prior year. The biggest statistical increase was in families with incomes above 400% of the federal poverty level, with an uninsured rate rising from 2.5% in 2021 to 3.4% in 2022. However, children living in families with lower incomes are still more likely to go without insurance despite the free and subsidized options available through Medicaid, CHIP, and Pennie™.
Using the 138% Federal Poverty Level threshold for Medicaid eligibility, the Census data shows that 7.3% of children living in Pennsylvania who are financially eligible for Medicaid are not insured . iv All of those children should have Medicaid coverage. While it may be that some families are not aware of their public health insurance options, there are other reasons that are more likely driving disparities in coverage, including difficulty in navigating the enrollment processes, confusion about eligibility policies, and language and literacy barriers. v, vi Counties with children who are eligible for Medicaid but are not enrolled are more likely to have a spike in their uninsured rates. There are 25 counties with at least 1 in 10 Medicaid-eligible children who do not have health insurance. These counties have an average 11% child uninsured rate. For example, Lebanon County, which has the highest uninsured rate in Pennsylvania, had a large jump from 4% to 21% over one year of children who are Medicaid-eligible but don’t have health insurance. The remaining approximately two-thirds of counties with smaller percentages of Medicaid- eligible but uninsured children only have an average 4% child uninsured rate.
10
November 2023
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