Spotlight on Uninsured Parents: How a Lack of Coverage Affects Parents and Their Families - Report

Providing health coverage for the entire family can both help to increase coverage of children and assist low-income families in obtaining more affordable health care services. This brief uses data from the 2005 Kaiser Low-Income Coverage and Access Survey to examine health coverage, access and the financial impacts of health care for low-income parents and their families. This survey targets the low-income population and provides more extensive data on financial burdens and access to care and insurance coverage than most national surveys. This survey’s data on parents demonstrates that being uninsured affects not just a parent’s health, but also the well-being of the entire family.