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Uninsured Children (uninsured + child)
Selected AbstractsAttenuation of Racial Differences in Health Service Utilization Patterns for Previously Uninsured Children in the DeltaTHE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 4 2005Zola K. Moon MA ABSTRACT: Context: A school-based health insurance program for children of the working poor was conducted in 2 isolated, rural communities in the Lower Mississippi Delta region. The larger of the 2 communities had an array of locally available health care providers, whereas the smaller community did not. In response to this lack of available care, the project designed and delivered outreach programs, including transportation to providers. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of race, age, and gender in the relationships between the utilization of care and the impact of outreach programs. Method: General estimating equation models are used to examine the response of utilization variables to race, age, gender, and community. Four years of insurance claims data are analyzed. Findings: Race is seen to be an important component of utilization. The majority of participants were African American; however, children receiving prescription services, emergency room care, routine physician visits, and hospital outpatient services were more likely to be white. Outreach programs in vision and dental services were found to eliminate racial differences and increase utilization. A relatively strong gender effect was found in prescription, wellness, vision, and dental services. Conclusions: Previous research has shown differences by race in utilization of care. Our findings show that targeted outreach programs can significantly diminish these differences. Findings also suggest that barriers to health care for poor rural children are closely linked to transportation and availability of providers, not merely to cost of care or insurance. [source] ALL CHILDREN ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL: PRWORA'S UNCONSTITUTIONAL RESTRICTION ON IMMIGRANT CHILDREN'S ACCESS TO FEDERAL HEALTH CARE PROGRAMSFAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 3 2006Hyejung Janet Shin The lack of health insurance for children is a serious problem in the United States, especially for those children in families that earn too little to get private health insurance and too much to qualify for Medicare. Even within this subclass of children, immigrant children are particularly vulnerable to the problems faced by lack of health care. Nevertheless, with the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) by Congress, equality interests of low-income immigrant children are undermined when immigrant children are denied federal benefits for the first 5 years of residency in the United States. The first part of this Note examines the importance of child health care and the long-term problems with uninsured children, especially with uninsured immigrant children and pregnant women. The next part introduces Medicaid as well as State Children's Health Insurance Program, a supplemental federal program designed to increase health care coverage to all children, while contrasting these programs in light of the restrictive anti-immigrant PRWORA provisions. The third part explains the passage of PRWORA, its anti-immigrant provisions, and how these provisions prevent needy immigrant children from receiving federally funded health care. Then, the fourth part uses both the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment to argue the unconstitutionality of the anti-immigrant provisions. Finally, the last part lays out the recommendation to amend the Social Security Act so that the PRWORA barriers can be removed and recent immigrant children can receive federally funded health care. [source] The effect of lack of insurance, poverty and paediatrician supply on immunization rates among children 19,35 months of age in the United StatesJOURNAL OF EVALUATION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE, Issue 2 2008James L. Becton Jr MD Rational, aims and objectives, Previous studies found that the increasing number of paediatricians in the United States was associated with improved childhood immunization coverage, while the increasing poverty level and the lack of health insurance reduced access to health care. We evaluated whether changes in the number of paediatricians, poverty level and health insurance affected national childhood immunization coverage in the state levels of the United States. Methods, Data were collected primarily from the US National Immunization Surveys, series 4:3:1:3:3 from years 1995 and 2003. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the relationships among variables. Results, Over 8 years studied, immunization coverage increased for children aged 19,35 months from 52.3% to 79.8% in the 50 states. The average number of paediatricians per 1000 births increased 28.7% while the percentage of children without health insurance declined 15.6%, and the percentage of children who lived in poverty level declined 17.3%. In 1995, the states with higher immunization coverage were associated with higher numbers of paediatricians [odds ratio (OR), 32.73; 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.96,179.77]. In 2003, the higher numbers of paediatricians still played a role in the increased immunization coverage (OR, 4.69; 95% CI, 1.01,21.78); however, the higher rate of uninsured children in 2003 had an even greater effect upon immunization coverage. Compared with states with lower rates of uninsured children, states with intermediate and higher rates of uninsured children had sixfold (OR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.03,0.81) and 16-fold (OR, 0.06; 95% CI, 0.01,0.40) decreased childhood immunization coverage, respectively. Conclusion, Between 1995 and 2003 in the United States, the lack of health insurance became more prominent than the supply of paediatricians in affecting immunization coverage for children aged 19,35 months. Future improvements in insurance coverage for children will likely lead to greater immunization coverage. [source] Trends in Charges and Payments for Nonhospitalized Emergency Department Pediatric Visits, 1996,2003ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 4 2008Renee Y. Hsia MD Abstract Objectives:, To compare charges and payments for outpatient pediatric emergency visits across payer groups to provide information on reimbursement trends. Methods:, Total charges and payments for emergency department (ED) visits Medicaid/State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), privately insured, and uninsured pediatric patients from 1996 to 2003 using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Average charges per visit and average payments per visit were also tracked, using regression analysis to adjust for changes in patient characteristics. Results:, While charges for pediatric ED visits rose over time, payments did not keep pace. This led to a decrease in reimbursement rates from 63% in 1996 to 48% in 2003. For all years, Medicaid/SCHIP visits had the lowest reimbursement rates, reaching 35% in 2003. The proportion of visits from children insured by Medicaid/SCHIP also increased over the period examined. In 2003, after adjustment, charges were $792 per visit from children covered by Medicaid/SCHIP, $913 for visits from uninsured children, and $952 for visits from privately insured children. Conclusions:, Reimbursements for outpatient ED visits in the pediatric population have decreased from the period of 1996 to 2003 in all payer groups: public (Medicaid/SCHIP), private, and the uninsured. Medicaid/SCHIP has consistently paid less per visit than the privately insured and the uninsured. Further research on the effects of these declining reimbursements on the financial viability of ED services for children is warranted. [source] | ||||||||||