The report used data from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey. The survey randomly selects about 3.5 million households each year to be surveyed and conducts the survey year-round, with the results published annually. Read more about the methodology here.
5 things to know:
1. Twelve states saw the number of uninsured children decrease between 0.3 and 1.2 percentage points: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon and Texas.
2. Though Texas’ rate of uninsured children decreased by 0.9 percent, it still had the highest uninsured rate in 2021 at 11.8 percent.
3. Three states — Idaho, Maryland and New York — saw an increase in the number of uninsured children.
4. Children in low-wage working families with annual incomes between $30,305 and $54,900 saw the biggest decrease in uninsured rates. Uninsured rates for those children dropped from 7.7 percent in 2019 to 7 percent in 2021.
5. Georgetown researchers estimated that 6.7 million children are at risk for a period of uninsurance when the COVID-19 public emergency ends. Of those projected to lose Medicaid, an estimated 75 percent will remain eligible. The challenge of redetermining the eligibility of 80 million people currently covered by Medicaid put children and their families at risk of falling through the cracks, however.
