Our analyses indicate adolescents in low-income families remain at a disadvantage despite expansions of the Medicaid program and the comparatively new State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Additional efforts are needed to ensure eligible adolescents are enrolled in these programs. Nonfinancial barriers to care must also be addressed to reduce inequities.

After age 18, all groups are vulnerable to lack of insurance. Rate increases beyond age 25 to 26 years are attributable to increases in private coverage, whereas decreases in public coverage account for the lack of a full recovery to the higher rates seen in adolescence. The safety net of public programs that cover adolescents disappears in young adulthood, leaving young adults vulnerable, a problem that persists into the 30s for those who are in poverty and those who are of Hispanic origin.