“In 2017, 5.4 percent of children under the age of 19 and 12.2 percent of adults aged 19 to 64 did not have health insurance coverage. For all selected characteristics, the percentage of adults without health insurance coverage was significantly higher than for children (under 19 years of age) (Figure 6). Additionally, differences in the uninsured rates between demographic and socioeconomic groups were generally larger among adults than among children.39

“For example, the difference in the uninsured rate by poverty status was larger among adults than among children. In 2017, 7.8 percent of children in poverty were uninsured, compared with 4.9 percent of children not in poverty, a 2.9 percentage-point difference. The uninsured rates for adults in poverty and not in poverty were 25.7 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively, a 15.2 percentage-point difference.

“In 2017, non-Hispanic White children had an uninsured rate of 4.3 percent. Asian children had an uninsured rate of 4.6 percent, and Black children had an uninsured rate of 4.9 percent.40 Hispanic children had the highest uninsured rate, at 7.7 percent. For all race and Hispanic origin groups, the uninsured rate for adults was significantly larger than the uninsured rate for children.

“The uninsured rate for noncitizen children in 2017 was 13.9 percent, compared with 5.2 percent for native-born citizen children, an 8.7 percentage -point difference. For adults in 2017, 26.8 percent of noncitizen adults and 10.5 percent of native-born adults were uninsured, a 16.3 percentage-point difference.”

Source: Berchick, Edward R., Emily Hood, and Jessica C. Barnett, Current Population Reports, P60-264, Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2018. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.html