Uninsured Children in Tennessee

Tennessee

Health insurance is critical for ensuring that children receive the medical care they need to achieve and maintain good health. Children with health insurance coverage are more likely to have a usual source of care and less likely to delay or forgo necessary medical care because of cost. 

Uninsured children experience more health disadvantages than children who have health insurance, including:

• More hospitalizations.
• Less stable and frequent preventive care.
• Lower rates of vaccine coverage.

In 2024, 6.1% of children ages 0-18 in the United States had no health insurance, 63.0% were privately insured and 34.2% were covered by public health insurance plans such as Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or other government-sponsored health plans.

The rate of uninsured children is higher among:

• American Indian/Alaska Native, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic children compared with non-Hispanic white, Black and Asian children.
• Children from lower-income families compared with those from higher-income families. High cost is often cited as the reason for the lack of insurance coverage.
• Children living in states that have not expanded Medicaid compared with those living in Medicaid expansion states.

Public programs such as Medicaid and CHIP have made significant strides in increasing access to and quality of care and improving health status for low-income children. States that have expanded Medicaid eligibility have substantially improved children's insurance rates. To date, 10 states have still not expanded Medicaid coverage, while 40 states and the District of Columbia have. During the COVID-19 pandemic, continuous enrollment provisions increased the number of children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP plans. However, that number has since declined by 7.4 million as states resumed eligibility redeterminations.

School-based health centers can expand health care access by identifying uninsured children at the beginning of the school year and connecting their families with coverage information and enrollment assistance.

Increasing the proportion of Americans with health insurance is a leading health indicator for Healthy People 2030. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a strategic goal to improve the availability and accessibility of health insurance coverage by increasing enrollment of eligible children in CHIP and Medicaid. 

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Yu, Justin, James M. Perrin, Thomas Hagerman, and Amy J. Houtrow. “Underinsurance Among Children in the United States.” Pediatrics 149, no. 1 (January 1, 2022): e2021050353. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-050353.