Health insurance is a linchpin in the United States’ health care system. It can insulate families from deep financial strain and medical debt, as costs for health care services have grown increasingly unaffordable in recent decades. For children, the doorway to health care offered by insurance is uniquely important—ensuring their opportunity to develop into healthy adults by providing access to regular health screenings, routine services, vaccinations, and vital treatments when health issues are identified.

Children’s health insurance coverage rates in the United States have improved since the 1990s, largely due to policy initiatives designed to provide kids with affordable health insurance options, such as the long-running Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) established twenty-five years ago.¹ However, while overall uninsured rates remain low, disparities among select groups of children have persisted, with wide gaps in coverage found across the states and certain demographic categories.