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Maine Children's Alliance

Low income children under age 19 without health insurance in Maine

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Why This Indicator Matters

Having health insurance is important for individual families for several reasons. Uninsured people receive less medical care and less timely care, they have worse health outcomes, and lack of insurance is a fiscal burden for them and their families. Children with incomes below 200% of poverty are eligible for MaineCare in Maine.
For more information see:  Healthcare.gov: Why Having Health Insurance Is Important

What the data shows
For 2020, the rate of uninsured among children living in low-income families in Maine was 8.1%, up from 7.8% in 2019, and also higher than the 6.4% rate in 2016.  There were approximately 6,630 children who were uninsured and living in low-income families in 2020.

The rate varies by counties. In 2020, Waldo, Sagadahoc, Lincoln and Hancock counties all had rates of uninsured low income children above 10%. On the other hand, Somerset, Oxford, and Penobscot  counties had the lowest rates, varying between 5.8% to 6.0%
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Data Provided By

Definitions: Children under age 19 who were not covered by health insurance at any point during the year and whose family income was less than 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).The numerator is children ages 0 - 18 who are low income and did not have health insurance at some point in time and the denominator is all children in families at or below 200% of the poverty line. The 2020 federal poverty threshold was $26,200  for a family of two adults and two children, so a family of four earning less than $52,400 was considered low income.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program produces timely estimates for all counties and states by detailed demographic and income groups. The SAHIE program produces single-year estimates of health insurance coverage for every county in the U.S. The estimates are model-based and consistent with the American Community Survey (ACS). 

Data Source:

Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) for counties 
 And choose the age group under age 19 and the income under 200% of poverty.


The SAHIE program models health insurance coverage by combining survey data from several sources, including:the American Community Survey (ACS), demographic population estimates,, aggregated federal tax returns, participation records for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), program, county Business Patterns, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) participation records

Footnotes: Updated August 2022.