Robin Wang

Uninsurance among citizen children with any noncitizen parents rose from 6.0 to 8.0 percent between 2016 and 2019. This increase reversed much of the coverage gains they had experienced between 2013 and 2016 and was larger than that for citizen children with only citizen parents.

Both children and parents experienced steep declines in uninsurance following implementation of the major coverage provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014. Between 2013 and 2016, uninsurance fell by nearly 40 percent for both groups. But these coverage gains stalled starting in 2017 and 2018. In this brief, we use data from the American Community Survey to assess trends in coverage for children and parents through 2019.

Following Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation in 2014, children’s and parents’ insurance coverage and Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) participation rose, and the number of Medicaid/CHIP-eligible uninsured children and parents fell. But between 2016 and 2017, children’s coverage and participation decreased, and parents’ gains stalled.