This paper provides national and state level estimates of Medicaid/CHIP participation rates and of the number of uninsured children who are eligible for the program based on 2008 data from the American Community Survey. The results point to a national Medicaid/CHIP participation rate of about 82 percent, with varying participation rates across states and amongst groups of children. As of 2008, an estimated 4.7 million uninsured children were eligible for Medicaid/CHIP but not enrolled, of whom about 60 percent were concentrated in 10 states.

This chart book provides national and state level estimates of uninsured rates and of the number of uninsured children based on 2008 data from the American Community Survey. The chart book documents the substantial variation in uninsured rates across states with uninsured rates among children ranging from a low of 1.7 percent in Massachusetts to a high of 20.1 percent in Nevada. The chart book also shows variation in uninsured rates across geographic areas within each state and compares the characteristics of uninsured children to those of insured children within the same state.

New data on health insurance coverage from the American Community Survey show extensive variation in rates of private and public coverage and uninsurance across congressional districts in the United States. Rates of private coverage are lowest in districts that have higher poverty rates which tend to be concentrated in the South and West and uninsurance remains most serious in districts with low rates of private coverage. This analysis identifies the districts in which residents would have the most to gain from health reforms that are designed to increase health insurance coverage toward a higher and more uniform national standard.