Health insurance programs funded in whole or in part by federal and state tax dollars are an important source of health insurance coverage for children in the United States. The 2022 National Health Interview Survey reported that 43.7% of children under the age of 18 in the U.S. had publicly supported health insurance coverage. This includes children insured through Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare, other government-sponsored health plans, and military health plans.  While children are insured through varied publicly supported health plans, the most significant drivers of public health insurance coverage for children in the U.S. are Medicaid and CHIP.  Medicaid is the joint state-federal health insurance program for eligible individuals with limited financial resources, while CHIP is a joint state-federal effort to make health insurance available to children from low-income families who do not qualify for Medicaid coverage.  As of January 2023, federal reports indicate that about 41.9 million children were enrolled in Medicaid or separate CHIP programs.

Those January 2023 federal reports revealed that the six-state New England region had about 1.57 million children enrolled in either Medicaid or separate CHIP programs.  Of the total January 2023 Medicaid child and CHIP enrollment reported by 49 states and the District of Columbia, the New England region accounted for about 3.7% of the national total.  Here is a summary look at Medicaid child and CHIP enrollment in New England as of January 2023:

Medicaid Child and CHIP Enrollment in New England

Area Name	Enrollment	% of U.S. Total
Connecticut	371,045	0.9%
Maine	136,455	0.3%
Massachusetts	756,620	1.8%
New Hampshire	107,567	0.3%
Rhode Island	128,717	0.3%
Vermont	65,605	0.1%
Region	1,566,009	3.7%
United States (1)	41,859,753	100.0%

(1) National figures are for the 49 states and the District of Columbia that reported child enrollment data for January 2023

Source: Medicaid.gov Enrollment Reports as of January 2023