11.3 million children age 18 and under are uninsured, the largest number ever reported by the Census Bureau. More than 90 percent of uninsured children have one or more parents who work. Other aspects of uninsured children include the following:

?œ Three in five live in two-parent families.

?œ Two-thirds have family incomes above the poverty level, but 70 percent have incomes below $26,660 a year for a family of three (200 percent of the federal poverty level in 1997).

The majority of uninsured children are in the group aimed by the new child health legislation. Their parents earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford any health coverage for their child or children. Many of the parents get up every morning; go to work, pay their taxes, and abide by the laws cannot provide their kids with health insurance.

In 1996, 70 percent of all American

Organizations that already exist that helps uninsured chlidren is called the Children?fs Health Insurance Program also known as CHIP. CHIP was enacted by the U.S. Congress in August 1997. It?fs designed primarily to help the 11.3 million children who do not have health insurance, whose working families with incomes is too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford any health care coverage for their child or children. Once enrolled, children are generally eligible for regular check ups, immunizations, eyeglasses, doctor visits, prescriptions drug coverage, and hospital care.

In conclusion the goal of most of the major health care reform proposals is to extend health care coverage to all children who are currently uninsured. An expansion of health coverage would greatly decrease the number of uninsured kids with two parents or single parent.

Children without health care pay a very high price, which is their life. They are at a risk of illnesses that can be easily prevented ahead of time. The majority of uninsured children with asthma and one in three uninsured children with recurring ear infections never see a doctor during the year. (Newacheck, P.W., et al. (1996). "Children's access to primary care: Difference by race, income, and insurance status," Pediatrics, 97, 26-32. Based on data from National Medical Expenditure Survey 1987). Many kids are hospitalized for acute asthma attacks that could have been prevented or suffer permanent hearing loss from untreated ear infections.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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