Future Challenges for New Hampshire Health Insurance Coverage Among the Uninsured

New Hampshire's public/private insurance system of coverage for children is among the best in the country. 95 percent of children (between the age 0-17) have health insurance. This is considerably higher than the national average and is an indication of the strength of the private insurance market and improvements in public coverage programs for children.

Despite this success, an estimated 74,000 adults are uninsured, the majority of whom are working. As uninsurance has an impact both on health and ultimately on the financial stability of the entire family, this suggests that public policy might have an important role in shoring up health status within the workforce. As smaller firms are less likely to provide health insurance coverage for their workers, these results suggest that policies should, where possible, focus on these firms.