HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) In Brief TRACK Discussion: Submit a Comment TRACK Discussion: View Comments Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when TRACK Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Google Scholar Articles by DeVoe, J. E. Articles by Wallace, L. S. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by DeVoe, J. E. Articles by Wallace, L. S. Related Collections Children's health Vulnerable populations Quantitative methods Health policy Disparities in health and health care

Children’s Receipt of Health Care Services and Family Health Insurance Patterns

¹ Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
² Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon
³ Department of Family Medicine, University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine Knoxville, Tennessee

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Jennifer E. DeVoe, MD, DPhil, Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, Portland, OR 97239, devoej{at}ohsu.edu

PURPOSE Insured children in the United States have better access to health care services; less is known about how parental coverage affects children’s access to care. We examined the association between parent-child health insurance coverage patterns and children’s access to health care and preventive counseling services.

METHODS We conducted secondary analyses of nationally representative, cross-sectional, pooled 2002–2006 data from children (n = 43,509), aged 2 to 17 years, in households responding to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). We assessed 9 outcome measures pertaining to children’s unmet health care and preventive counseling needs.

RESULTS Cross-sectionally, among US children (aged 2 to 17 years) living with at least 1 parent, 73.6% were insured with insured parents, 8.0% were uninsured with uninsured parents, and the remaining 18.4% had discordant family insurance coverage patterns. In multivariable analyses, insured children with uninsured parents had higher odds of an insurance coverage gap (odds ratio [OR] = 2.45; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.02–2.97), no usual source of care (OR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.10–1.56), unmet health care needs (OR = 1.11; 95% CI, 1.01–1.22), and having never received at least 1 preventive counseling service (OR = 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04–1.39) when compared with insured children with insured parents. Insured children with mixed parental insurance coverage had similar vulnerabilities.

CONCLUSIONS Uninsured children had the highest rates of unmet needs overall, with fewer differences based on parental insurance status. For insured children, having uninsured parents was associated with higher odds of going without necessary services when compared with having insured parents.

Key Words: Health insurance • access to health care • SCHIP • health policy • primary health care

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. C. Stange Actionable Ideas to Improve Health Care and Health Ann. Fam. Med, January 1, 2010; 8(1): 82 - 84. [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. S. Gotler In This Issue: Critical Topics in Primary Care Ann. Fam. Med, September 1, 2009; 7(5): 386 - 387. [Full Text] [PDF]

TRACK Comments: