Indicator: Children and Youth With Health Insurance

Priority or Priorities: Early childhood development
Initiative(s): Task force on early childhood/early childhood systems initiative
Outcome (s): Children and youth respected, safe and nurtured in their communities

Why This is Important

Children without health insurance are less likely to have a regular health care provider; less likely to have a regular dentist, or to have had a dental visit in the last year; and more likely to be in fair or poor health than low-income, privately-insured children.

Where We Stand

In 2005, most (93%) of Maine's children under 18 years old had health insurance. This is a definite improvement since 1995, when only 84% of Maine's children had health insurance. In comparison, 89% of persons under 18 had health insurance nationwide in 2005. These levels have not changed significantly in the reporting period.

Data Source and Context

Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's annual social and economic supplements to the Current Population Survey. The numbers in the chart are estimates based on interviews with a sample of Maine households; the state estimates are three-year averages. Data can be found on-line at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hlthins/reports.html