More than 1 million U.S. children live in families where at least one child is a U.S. citizen and at least one is not, and the noncitizen children are more than three times as likely to be uninsured, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open. About 22.8% of noncitizen children in these families lacked coverage, compared with 6.7% of citizen children in the same group of families.
The findings point to a practical issue for parents. Eligibility for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is decided for each person who applies, not for the family as a whole. A citizen child may qualify even if a brother, sister, or parent does not.
