What Are Some Demographic Considerations in Reviewing/Generating Estimates?

After considering the methodologies utilized, what information will be key to identifying the target population, either within existing data or as data to be collected? Although many larger surveys report on a wide variety of data, three pieces of data will be most useful in gaining a better understanding of the SCHIP target population:

Number of uninsured children: How many children are uninsured? What are the numbers and how does this compare with other estimates?

Demographic characteristics of the uninsured children: What does the population of uninsured children look like demographically?
- Age.
- Race.
- Family structure.
- Parents’ education.
- Parents’ employment status.
- Where the children live.

Insurance eligibility status: What proportion of the uninsured population has been offered health insurance? And, what proportion of that group accepted it and actually enrolled in a health insurance program? (This is referred to as "the take-up rate.") Take-up rates can help State officials gain a better understanding of the extent to which the uninsured population includes individuals who have declined other coverage. There are two types of information to consider related to this topic:
- How many uninsured individuals have had offers of private insurance? What is the take-up rate among this group?
- How many are eligible for public insurance? What is the take-up rate within this group and how many people actually have coverage?