Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan;46(1):3-8.
doi: 10.1097/MLR.0b013e31815b97ac.

Uninsured but eligible children: are their parents insured? Recent findings from Oregon

Jennifer E DeVoe  1 , Lisa Krois, Christine Edlund, Jeanene Smith, Nichole E Carlson
Affiliations

Uninsured but eligible children: are their parents insured? Recent findings from Oregon

Jennifer E DeVoe et al. Med Care. 2008 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Despite expansions in public health insurance programs, millions of US children lack coverage. Nearly two-thirds of Oregon's uninsured children seem to be eligible for public insurance.

Objectives: We sought to identify uninsured but eligible children and to examine how parental coverage affects children's insurance status.

Methods: We collected primary data from families enrolled in Oregon's food stamp program, which has similar eligibility requirements to public health insurance in Oregon. In this cross-sectional, multivariable analysis, results from 2861 surveys were weighted back to a population of 84,087 with nonresponse adjustment. Key predictor variables were parental insurance status and type of insurance; the outcome variable was children's insurance status.

Results: Nearly 11% of children, presumed eligible for public insurance, were uninsured. Uninsurance among children was associated with being Hispanic, having an employed parent, and higher household earnings (133-185% of the federal poverty level). Children with an uninsured parent were more likely to be uninsured, compared with those who had insured parents (adjusted odds ratio 14.21, 95% confidence interval 9.23-20.34). More surprisingly, there was a higher rate of uninsured children among privately-insured parents, compared with parents covered by public insurance (adjusted odds ratio 4.39, 95% confidence interval 2.00-9.66).

Conclusions: Low-income Oregon parents at the higher end of the public insurance income threshold and those with private insurance were having the most difficulty keeping their children insured. These findings suggest that when parents succeed in pulling themselves out of poverty and gaining employment with private health insurance coverage, children may be getting left behind.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flow diagram of potential study participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. Health coverage for low-income children. Available at: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/2144-05.pdf. Accessed August 20, 2007.
    1. Gresenz CR, Rogowski J, Escarce JJ. Dimensions of the local health care environment and use of care by uninsured children in rural and urban areas. Pediatrics. 2006;117:e509–e517. - PubMed
    1. Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research. Oregon Population Survey 2004, Health Insurance Statistics. Salem, OR: Office for Oregon Health Policy and Research; 2005.
    1. Stevens GD, Seid M, Halfon N. Enrolling vulnerable, uninsured but eligible children in public health insurance: association with health status and primary care access. Pediatrics. 2006;117:e751–e759. - PubMed
    1. Davidoff A, Garrett B. Determinants of public and private insurance enrollment among Medicaid-eligible children. Med Care. 2001;39:523–535. - PubMed

Publication types