Health insurance coverage varies greatly from state to state, and low-income non-elderly adults are more likely to go without insurance than children, according to a new survey just released by the Urban Institute. Urban Institute’s National Survey of America’s Families, which polled 44,461 households in 13 states during 1997, found extensive variation between states in health insurance coverage.

Most differences can be traced to variations in private insurance coverage. In Texas, for example, only 56 percent of children have private coverage; private insurance in Wisconsin covers a high of 84 percent of children.

Health insurance needs of non-elderly adults may be the next big challenge facing policy makers. While 21 percent of low-income children lack health insurance, fully 37 percent of low-income adults are uninsured. Of those that are insured, 39 percent of low-income children are insured through public programs _ usually Medicaid, and only 20 percent of adults are covered through public programs.

These statistics may reflect much larger problems states will face in financing care for the uninsured when employer-sponsored coverage is limited.