One out of every 8 children are uninsured while 
1 in 5 Hispanic children and 1 in 7 African 
American children are uninsured. Three-quar-
ters, approximately 6,800,000, of these children 
are eligible but not enrolled in the Medicaid 
program or the State Children’s Health Insur-
ance Program (SCHIP). Long-range studies 
found that 1 in 3 children went without health 
insurance for all or part of 2002 and 2003. 
(B) Low-income children are 3 times as 
likely as children in higher income families to 
be uninsured. It is estimated that 65 percent of 
uninsured children have at least 1 parent work-
ing full time over the course of the year. 
(C) It is estimated that 50 percent of all 
legal immigrant children in families with in-
come that is less than 200 percent of the Fed-
eral poverty line are uninsured. In States with-
out programs to cover immigrant children, 57 
percent of noncitizen children are uninsured. 
(D) Children in the Southern and Western 
parts of the United States were nearly 1.7 
times more likely to be uninsured than children 
in the Northeast. In the Northeast, 9.4 percent 
of children are uninsured while in the Midwest, 
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8.3 percent are uninsured. The South’s rate of 
uninsured children is 14.3 percent while the 
West has an uninsured rate of 13 percent. 
(E) Children’s health care needs are ne-
glected in the United States. One out of every 
5 children has problems accessing needed care 
and one-quarter of young children in the United 
States are not fully up to date on their basic 
immunizations. One-third of children with 
chronic asthma do not get a prescription for the 
necessary medications to manage the disease 
and 1 out of every 4 children do not receive an-
nual dental exams. 
(F) Children without health insurance are 
twice as likely as insured children to not receive 
any medical care in a given year. According to 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
nearly 1⁄2 of all uninsured children have not had 
a well-child visit in the past year. One in 6 un-
insured children had a delayed or unmet med-
ical need in the past year. Minority children are 
less likely to receive proven treatments such as 
prescription medications to treat chronic dis-
ease. 
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(G) There are 7,600,000 young adults be-
tween the ages of 19 and 20. In the United 
States, approximately 28 percent, or 2,100,000 
individuals, of this group are uninsured. 
(H) Chronic illness and disability among 
children are on the rise. Children most at risk 
for chronic illness and disability are children 
who are most likely to be poor and uninsured. 
(2) ROLE OF THE MEDICAID AND STATE CHIL-
DREN’S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS.— 
(A) The Medicaid program and SCHIP 
serve as a crucial health safety net for 
30,000,000 children. During the recent eco-
nomic downturn and the highest number of un-
insured individuals ever recorded in the United 
States, the Medicaid program and SCHIP off-
set losses in employer-sponsored coverage. 
While the number of children living in low-in-
come families increased between 2000 and 
2005, the number of uninsured children fell due 
to the Medicaid program and SCHIP. 
(B) 28,000,000 children are enrolled today 
in the Medicaid program, accounting for 1⁄2 of 
all enrollees and only 18 percent of total pro-
gram costs. 
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(C) The Medicaid program and SCHIP do 
more than just fill in the gaps. Gains in public 
coverage have reduced the percentage of low-in-
come uninsured children by 1⁄3 from 1997 to 
2005. In addition, a study found that publicly- 
insured children are more likely to obtain med-
ical care, preventive care, and dental care than 
similar low-income privately-insured children. 
(D) Publicly funded programs such as the 
Medicaid program and SCHIP actually improve 
children’s health. Children who are currently in-
sured by public programs are in better health 
than they were a year ago. Expansion of cov-
erage for children and pregnant women under 
the Medicaid program and SCHIP reduces 
rates of avoidable hospitalizations by 22 percent 
and has been proven to reduce childhood 
deaths, infant mortality rates, and the incidence 
of low birth weight. 
(E) Studies have found that children en-
rolled in public insurance programs experienced 
a 68-percent improvement in measures of school 
performance. 
(F) Despite the success of expansions in 
general under the Medicaid program and 
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