Many uninsured children qualify for Medi-Cal or Health Families.

Nearly 1.5 million California children ages 0-17 did not have health insurance coverage for all or part of the year in 2002. However, almost two-thirds of these uninsured children were eligible for one of the state's two public health insurance programs--Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. Uninsured children who were eligible but not enrolled in these programs were spread throughout the state, with wide variations between local areas. This policy brief presents data on children ages 0-17 in California who did not have health insurance coverage for some or all of the year and who were eligible for the Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs. These data highlight the geographic variations in children's uninsured eligibility rates for state Assembly, Senate and Congressional districts, as well as for counties and the Los Angeles Service Planning Areas (SPAs). Uninsured-eligibility rates at local levels were estimated by applying a small-area methodology to multiple data sources, including the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2001), 2000-2002 Current Population Surveys, and the 2000 Census.