Where are the nation’s uninsured kids? Everywhere

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For a checkup of the nation’s healthcare as a whole, perhaps we should look to its children. In the U.S., one in nine of them are uninsured, a new report says, with most coming from working families.

Using Census Bureau data, the nonprofit organization Families USA has released a state-by-state look at uninsured children in the U.S. The report represents three years of data -- 2005, 2006 and 2007 -- and thus doesn’t take into account the recent economic tremors, the authors point out.

California alone has more than 1.2 million uninsured kids (12.5% of the state’s total), making it No. 2 in the nation in sheer numbers. It’s behind only Texas, with 1.4 million uninsured kids (20.5% of its total).

Here’s the full report.

And here’s a Times package looking at the compromises three families have made for health insurance:

On the cutoff’s cusp: Hard choices on healthcare

Even with employer’s coverage, a family worries

For one mother, pay gains mean an insurance loss

-- Tami Dennis