Summary
Six in ten Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) children have employer-based health insurance and over 90% have insurance all year, but children's coverage differs across AAPI ethnic groups. Based on the most recent California Health Interview Survey data, Korean and Vietnamese children had the lowest rates of continuous job-based coverage in 2001/2003, at 40.5% and 42.6%, respectively, compared to 71.9% of Filipino children and 62.7% of AAPI children overall. In spite of their low rate of employment-based insurance coverage, Vietnamese children are protected by Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. Korean children, however, have half the rate of public coverage enrollment and consequently, twice the rate of uninsurance. Nearly 60% of AAPI children who were uninsured all or part of the year live in families with at least one full-time employee. Among AAPI children with Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, over three-fourths are in families with at least one working parent. Data from the CHIS 2001-R and 2003 has been averaged to provide more stable estimates for health insurance and uninsured eligibility rates among Asian subgroups. Family work status data is only available from CHIS 2003. This fact sheet was funded by The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation.