Table 1 Selected characteristics of uninsured minority children and their parents (N = 267)
Characteristic | Mean or % |
|---|---|
Age of child (years), mean (range) | 7.3 (1, 18) |
Gender of child | |
 Male | 50 % |
 Female | 50 % |
Race/ethnicity of child | |
 Latino | 65 % |
 African-American | 35 % |
Child born in US | 95Â % |
Gender of primary caregiver | |
 Female | 96 % |
 Male | 4 % |
Primary caregiver has limited English proficiency | 32Â % |
Marital status of primary caregiver | |
 Married, living with spouse | 39 % |
 Single | 30 % |
 Married, separated from spouse | 13 % |
 Common-law marriage | 7 % |
 Divorced | 6 % |
 Living with partner | 4 % |
 Widowed | 1 % |
Primary caregiver not high-school graduate | 43Â % |
Primary caregiver unemployed | 53Â % |
Primary caregiver has health insurance | 26Â % |
Type of insurance coverage for insured caregiver | |
 Public | 52 % |
 Private | 45 % |
 Other | 3 % |
Mean combined annual family income (range) | $21,857 ($1,440, $64,000) |
Mean number of children in household (range) | 2.3 (1, 13) |
Mean number of adults in household (range) | 2.1 (1, 6) |
Primary caregiver aware that child is eligible for Medicaid or CHIP | 49Â % |
Child ever had health insurance before | 95Â % |
Insurance that uninsured child had in past | |
 Medicaid | 72 % |
 CHIP | 14 % |
 Private | 13 % |
 Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Sociala | 1 % |
Mean months without insurance (range) | 14.2 (1-144) |
Median months without insurance (inner 95th percentile range) | 6 (1, 84) |
Reason child lost insuranceb | |
 Insurance expired and never reapplied | 30 % |
 Was told making too much income/did not qualify | 13 % |
 Changed job | 13 % |
 Change of address | 11 % |
 Applied but never got reply or information | 9 % |
 Missing paperwork | 8 % |
 Does not know | 6 % |
 Father was supposed to cover child | 4 % |
 Too expensive | 2 % |
 Did not provide reason | 2 % |
 Child was determined to be disabled | 1 % |
 Sometimes paid premium late and was dropped | 1 % |
 Language barrier | 1 % |
 Insurance stopped when child was adopted | 1 % |
 Child not US citizen | 1 % |
 Told child aged out of health-insurance coverage | 1 % |
 Not legal guardian | 1 % |