The National Credit Union Association (NCUA) 

charters and supervises federal chartered credit unions, and savers in all federal and most state chartered credit unions are insured by National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), a federal fund backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government (97% of the nation's credit unions are covered by the insurance). NCUSIF has over $6 billion funded by a contribution from each insured credit union equal to one percent of deposits.

Established in 1970, the insurance coverage is very similar to FDIC with share accounts currently insured up to $250,000 per member. There are different ways to maximize coverage and your local credit union would have the answers.

For more information about credit union insurance go to NCUA  http://www.ncua.gov/index.html