Objectives

This study estimated the number of uninsured children in 1993 who were eligible for Medicaid.

Methods

Data from the March 1990 and 1994 Current Population Surveys were analyzed.

Results

At least 2.3 million Medicaid-eligible children were uninsured in 1993.

These children were more likely to have a working parent than children on Medicaid.

Higher proportions of uninsured children less than 6 years of age, children who lived in female-headed single-parent families, and African-American and Hispanic children were eligible for Medicaid.

Conclusions

Many eligible children do not enroll in Medicaid, and they differ in specific ways from enrolled children.