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Title: More Than 4 Million Parents of Young Children Were Uninsured in 2017-18
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2020
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Abstract: Whether parents have health insurance coverage affects not only their health care access but the financial stability and well-being of the entire family. The harmful consequences of parents' uninsurance may be magnified for young children, given early childhood's importance for long-term growth and development. Moreover, compared with a vast body of evidence on maternal and child health, research on fathers' insurance coverage and its implications for children and families is limited. In this brief, we assess uninsurance among parents living with young children from birth to age 5, using National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from 2017 and 2018, and report separate estimates for mothers and fathers. Our main findings are as follows: - More than 4 million parents living with young children-2.2 million mothers and 2.2 million fathers-were uninsured in 2017-18, representing a 40 percent decline in uninsurance since 2013, following implementation of the major coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). - In 2018, fathers living with young children were more likely to be uninsured than mothers living with young children (15.2 percent versus 13.0 percent). Both mothers and fathers who were living with young children and were Hispanic, noncitizens, living in the South, lacking a high school diploma, or in a family with low income faced uninsurance rates greater than 20 percent. - Of the estimated 4.4 million uninsured parents living with young children in 2017-18, most were under age 35, about half were Hispanic, and more than half lived in the South. Compared with uninsured fathers, uninsured mothers living with young children were considerably less likely to be working and more likely to have low incomes. - Both mothers and fathers living with young children most commonly reported being uninsured because of cost, and many reported becoming uninsured after losing employer or public coverage. Uninsured fathers living with young children were more likely than such mothers to have gone more than three years without coverage. - Many uninsured parents living with young children also reported problems affording needed health care, low levels of health care use, and concerns about affording other basic needs. Many uninsured parents experience unmet health needs, financial hardships, and worries about affording the family's medical care, which can have adverse effects on both their and their children's health in the short and long run. Reducing uninsurance among parents-such as through Medicaid expansion in the remaining states, increasing coverage affordability and accessibility for people who are eligible for Medicaid or Marketplace coverage but not enrolled, and eliminating eligibility restrictions based on immigration status-would likely improve parents' ability to access and afford needed care and reduce related financial concerns. Moreover, expanding coverage for parents could improve family financial stability and long-term well-being for approximately 4.0 million children under 6 who live in a family with at least one uninsured parent.
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Authors: Haley, Jennifer M; Thomas, Tyler W; Mcmorrow, Stacey
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Data Collections: IPUMS Health Surveys - NHIS
Topics: Family and Marriage, Population Health and Health Systems
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