For low-income children, preventive care more likely in Medicaid, CHIP than under private insurance

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/chop-flc111615.php

Public Release: 16-Nov-2015
For low-income children, preventive care more likely in Medicaid, CHIP than under private insurance
CHOP's PolicyLab analyzes family-reported experiences with access to care, quality and costs across insurance types
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Researchers have found that children in low-income families experience greater access to preventive medical and dental care under Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) than children covered by private insurance. However, for all types of insurance coverage, access to pediatric specialty care was a challenge.

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Caregivers of children enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP reported a greater perception of insurance always meeting their needs (78 percent) than caregivers of privately insured children (73 percent). Among children insured by Medicaid or CHIP, 88 percent had access to preventive medical care compared to 83 percent of privately insured children. The trend was similar for preventive dental care, in which 80 percent of children on Medicaid and 77 percent of those under CHIP had access to care, compared to 73 percent of privately insured children.

Among children in all coverage types, accessing specialty care was a challenge, with as many as one in four children having difficulty seeing a specialist. However, these challenges were amplified for children insured by CHIP (28 percent) and for privately insured children with special health care needs (29 percent).

Additionally, caregivers of privately insured children were much more likely to experience out-of-pocket costs (77 percent) than were caregivers of children insured by CHIP (38 percent) and Medicaid (26 percent).

"I think a lot of people might be surprised to learn that families perceive a greater quality of access to care and lower out-of-pocket costs within Medicaid and CHIP compared to commercial insurance," said David Rubin, MD, MSCE, senior researcher on the study team. "The value of Medicaid and CHIP for families in this country is frequently debated among our leaders, but the value of this study is the nationally representative data provided by families themselves."

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