Racial/Ethnic Differences in Health Insurance Adequacy and Consistency among Children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children's Health
Background: Surveillance of disparities in healthcare insurance, services and quality of care among children are critical for properly serving the medical/healthcare needs of underserved populations. The purpose of this study was to assess racial/ethnic differences in children’s (0 to 17 years old)...
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| Published in: | Journal of public health research Vol. 7; no. 1 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pavia
PAGEPress Publications
05-02-2018
PAGEPress Publications, Pavia, Italy SAGE Publishing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | Background: Surveillance of disparities in healthcare insurance, services and quality of care among children are critical for properly serving the medical/healthcare needs of underserved populations. The purpose of this study was to assess racial/ethnic differences in children’s (0 to 17 years old) health insurance adequacy and consistency (child has insurance coverage for the last 12 months). Design and methods: We used data from the 2011/2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (n=79,474). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the distribution and influence of several sociodemographic/family related factors on insurance adequacy and consistency across different racial/ethnic groups. Results: Stratified analyses by race/ethnicity revealed that white and black children living in households at or below 299% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) were approximately 29 to 42% less likely to have adequate insurance compared to children living in families of higher income levels. Regardless of race/ethnicity, we found that children with public health insurance were more likely to have adequate insurance than their privately insured counterparts, while adolescents were at greater risk of inadequate coverage. Hispanic and black children were more likely to lack consistent insurance coverage. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that racial/ethnic differences in adequate and consistent health insurance exists with both white and minority children being affected adversely by poverty. Establishing outreach programs for low income families, and cross-cultural education for healthcare providers may help increase health insurance adequacy and consistency within certain underserved populations. |
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| Bibliography: | Conflict of interest: the authors declare no potential conflict of interest. Contributions: TGS coordinated the study by providing timely information and feedback, keeping the research progress within the time line, writing and editing the paper, and formatting the manuscript in line with the journal requirements; EE contributed by coordinating the selection of the variables, coding, and entering them into Stata software for analysis; FA contributed by conducting extensive literature review, writing the paper, and editing the overall paper; MA contributed by coordinating the selection of the variables, coding, and data analysis; PK is the senior member of the team who had a role of overseeing the study by providing a continuous guidance and direction to team members. |
| ISSN: | 2279-9036 2279-9028 2279-9036 |
| DOI: | 10.4081/jphr.2018.1280 |