Objectives: This study evaluated the relationships between health insurance and welfare status and the health and medical care of children with asthma.
Methods: Parents of children with asthma aged 2 to 12 years were interviewed at 6 urban clinical sites and 2 welfare offices.
Results: Children whose families had applied for but were denied welfare had more asthma symptoms than did children whose families had had no contact with the welfare system. Poorer mental health in parents was associated with more asthma symptoms and higher rates of health care use in their children. Parents of uninsured and transiently insured children identified more barriers to health care than did parents whose children were insured.
Conclusions: Children whose families have applied for welfare and children who are uninsured are at high risk medically and may require additional services to improve health outcomes.