Employer-Sponsored Programs

• According to the 2009 Employer Health Benefits Survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust, 60 percent of employers offered health insurance to their employees in 2009. The average premium cost to the employee was $3,515 a year for family coverage.
  
  

Individual Policies

• Parents unable to get health coverage for their kids through work can find child-only or family policies on the private insurance market through companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield or health maintenance organizations (HMOs). Major medical insurance can also be purchased through some professional organizations or religious affiliations.
  
  

Medicaid

• Families living below the poverty line can get health insurance for their children, up to age 21, through the Medicaid program, which is funded at the federal and state levels. Eligibility is based not only on income, but also on other factors like resources (such as ownership of property and bank account balances) and citizenship. Medicaid pays for preventive care, health screenings, treatment of illness, doctor's office and hospital visits, and vision and dental care at little to no cost.
  
  

Children's Health Insurance Program

• Parents who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford an individual insurance policy for their children may qualify for a joint state and federal initiative called the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). States dictate qualifying income levels for the program and children must not be insured under any other program.
  
  CHIP provides preventive care at no cost and other services, such as hospital and lab services, at low or no cost, depending on the limits set by the state.
  
  

InsureKidsNow.gov

• InsureKidsNow.gov (1-877-KIDS-NOW) explains government-funded children's health insurance programs, and connects families with more information on state-specific health and dental coverage.