Change Indicator

Children participating in MaineCare by county in Maine

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Why This Indicator Matters

Children with health insurance have better health than children who do not have insurance, as they are likely to not receive timely care if they do not have health insurance. A child's health is also influenced by whether or not the parents have insurance. Maine expanded access to Medicaid for adults (called MaineCare in this state) in January 2019.  

What the data shows

The number of children with MaineCare in the years 2011-2021 was at its highest in 2012 with 144,198 children enrolled and then declined from 2012-2019 and has been increasing in both 2021 and 2022. For state fiscal year 2022, a total of 9,618 more children were enrolled than in 2019. and the percentage of children with MaineCare rose from 43.9% to 48.6%.  This was the highest rate since 2014. 

In terms of county rates, as of June 30, 2022, five counties Washington, Piscataquis, Somerset, Oxford and Aroostook Counties had rates above 60%.  By contrast, three counties had rates below 38%- Cumberland (35.6%), Sagadahoc (36.4%), and York (37.4%).

The number of children with MaineCare in the years 2011-2022 was at its highest in 2012 with 144,198 children enrolled and then declined from 2012-2019. In state fiscal year 2020, however, the numbers rose by 466 and the percentage rose from 43.9% to 44.8%.  Looking at state fiscal year 2021, ending on June 30, 2021, the numbers of children with MaineCare rose by 3,480 to 122,083, or 46.3% of Maine's children and the highest rate since 2018.

In terms of county rates, for state fiscal year 2021, Washington, Piscataquis and Somerset Counties had rates above 60%, at 64.5%, 60.7% and 60.1% respectively. The counties with the lowest rates of children with MaineCare were Cumberland (32.7%), York (35.8%), and Sagadahoc (35.7%).
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Definition and Source

PROVIDER

Definition

The number and percent of individual children ages 0-18 participating in MaineCare. This data is reported by state fiscal years ending June 30. Children are reported by county of residence at the end of June or the end of the child's participation in the program. Note that the statewide figure for all years includes children who were non-residents, who were out-of-state, or whose residence is unknown. The numerator is the number of children who used MaineCare at any time in the fiscal year and the denominator is the number of children in Maine ages 0 -18 for same year or for the latest year that population data is available for.

Notes

A year represents a state fiscal year July-June. For 2005-2009 and 2012-22, county/state percentages were calculated using population estimates provided by Maine's Office of Data, Research and Vital Statistics. For 2010 & 2011, county/state percentages were calculated using the 2010 U.S. Census. For The figures include MaineCare and CHIP but count a child only once even if they had both MaineCare and CHIP during a fiscal year.

Updated October 2022.

Last Updated

October 2022