2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

private plans or HMOs increased significantly from the first to the fifth years.A quarter of mothers did not have insurance for some or all of their children, which is consistent with theprevious 3 years (but represented a decrease compared to the first year). Given that more foreign-bornthan U.S.-born mothers were without health insurance for some or all of their children (81% vs. 25%), itis not surprising that the reason cited most often for lack of insurance for children was that the childrenwere ineligible because they were not born in the United States. 25 As shown in Table 15, the next mostcommonly cited reasons were that the paperwork was in process and that Medicaid coverage was lost.Table 15. Reasons Children Not Covered by Health Insurance over Time aReasonProgram factors% MothersYear 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5(n=128) (n=82) (n=89) (n=82) (n=74)Paperwork is in progress 58 31 14 19 22Child/family is not eligibleNot eligible because children not born in U.S. — b 35 29 27 32Not eligible/became ineligible (other reason) 15 20 18 11 10Lost Medicaid 9 22 16 17 21Job change 1 6 16 15 21Insurance company refused coverage 1 6 13 16 1Tried but did not qualify 1 4 7 2 5Child on waiting list 4 4 2 0 0Change in marital status 0 0 1 0 1Individual factorsCost too high 13 2 13 9 16Coverage not offered by employer 13 0 4 12 4Too much trouble to apply 0 2 6 3 7Did not know how to apply 12 0 0 3 0Did not know was eligible 4 2 0 2 2Other c 21 7 9 8 10a Data were weighted to adjust for the oversampling of Glades mothers and mothers screened “at risk.” Mothers in the year 5sample who reported some or none of their children were covered each year they were interviewed. Multiple responses wereallowed.b This response option was not included in the year 1 survey.c “Other” includes “[Insurance] expired and has not renewed it,” “[It] has to be done by computer and I don’t have a computer,”“respondent told to provide additional information,” “respondent will apply tomorrow,” “they keep sending letters, but not thecards,”“DCFS took children; father has custody,” “respondent has not looked for insurance for older children,” “no transportation.”25 To be eligible for Florida KidCare, children generally must be U.S. citizens. However, noncitizen children classified by the as“qualified aliens” are eligible, including children who have been legal permanent residents for at least 5 years and Cuban andHaitian immigrants (http://www.floridadoh.com, accessed April 22, 2008).Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 31