Although most children have health insurance, many experience a time when they are not covered over the course of a year. Overall, 14.9 percent of children had a gap in their coverage in the past year or are currently uninsured.

Poor and low-income children are considerably more likely than children in higher-income families to experience inconsistent insurance coverage. Nearly one-quarter (24.7 percent) of children in families whose income is below the poverty level lacked coverage at some point in the year, as did 22.5 percent of children in families with incomes between 100 and 199 percent of poverty. Among children in families with incomes between 200 and 399 percent of FPL, 10.7 percent experienced a gap in coverage, as did only 5 percent of children with family incomes of 400 percent of FPL or more.

Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) had more consistent health coverage than typical children. Of CSHCN, 12.6 percent experienced a gap in coverage, compared to 15.4 percent of children without special health care needs.