An estimated 37 million U.S. children (49%) were enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) as of October 2024, according to an AAP analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The portion of children ages 0-18 covered by Medicaid/CHIP ranged from 18% in Utah to 71% in New Mexico (see map). Others with the highest portion of children receiving care through these public programs included the District of Columbia (70%), Louisiana (63%), Kentucky (59%), New York (59%) and North Carolina (57%), according to the AAP analysis. In 26 states, at least half of children are enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP.
The analysis also showed that children and adults comprise roughly an equal number of Medicaid/CHIP enrollees (48% vs. 52%).
Data are based on the CMS Medicaid and CHIP Performance Indicator Projects. Each month, all states and the District of Columbia are required to provide data to the CMS, which is reported in the Medicaid & CHIP Enrollment Report. Data from U.S. territories are not available in this reporting system.
Total enrollment figures represent the unduplicated number of people enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP as of the last day of the reporting period. AAP staff divide the enrollment figures by the number of children in each state based on Census estimates to determine the percentage of children covered by Medicaid/CHIP.
Resources
- For more information on how Medicaid is vital to children in your state, see your state’s fact sheet at https://bit.ly/41vnROa or email the AAP State Advocacy team at [email protected] for targeted consultation.
- For more information on the AAP analysis, contact Suk-fong Tang at 630-626-6622 or [email protected].
- For information about CMS data sources and methods, visit https://bit.ly/3CdFEuo.
