Uninsured Low-Income Parents

Definition

Percentage of parents with income below 200% of poverty without health insurance, 2011.

Description

Health insurance is often out of reach for working, low-income parents, either because coverage is unavailable to them through their employer or on the private market, or it’s unaffordable. Since the inception of Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP), states have expanded coverage for children through Medicaid and other programs. Adults in low-income families, however, often cannot qualify for public health insurance. For families without health coverage, inability to repay loans or credit card debt accumulated as part of payment for major medical expenses is a leading cause of bankruptcy.

The good news, however, is that with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, more adults will have access to health care coverage, along with their children. The Affordable Care Act expands Medicaid coverage to nearly all nonelderly individuals with incomes at or below 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL). According to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, if all states implement the expansion, an estimated additional 21.3 million people would enroll in Medicaid by 2022.

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Uninsured Low-Income Parents

Source

2011 American Community Survey. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, 2012.