Health insurance among children: the role of expanded Medicaid coverage

Abstract

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to track the health coverage of parents in the year before and the year in which their children enroll in Medicaid. Use of such longitudinal data, compared to cross-sectional data, provides more insight into the dynamics of health insurance coverage and expansions in Medicaid. Using these data, we find that approximately 16% of newly enrolled Medicaid children likely had access to private insurance through a parent. Moreover, most of the children enrolling in Medicaid were previously uninsured. We find little substitution of private for public health insurance among families living at or near the federal poverty line.