Compared to children without
special health care needs, CSHCN have 1. difficulty
accessing a required level of professional help to align care and referrals
among different health care providers and services,
2. have higher unmet
needs, and
3. incur more impediments to health care access
in general. 4. Families with CSHCN face higher major medical costs than
families who do not have a child with special health care needs. 5. Lack of
health insurance and poorer health status are associated with greater levels of
unmet needs and health care access.
Based on a national sample of children aged 0-17 years from
the 2000 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) CSHCN accounted for 42.1%
of the total health care expenditures in this age category (not including
dental costs). Families with CSHCN were two and a half times more likely to
have spent more than $1,000 out of pocket in health care expenditures than
families who did not have a child requiring special health care needs.
There are a number of factors that predispose (e.g. age,
gender, race /ethnicity) and enable (e.g. insurance coverage, usual source of
care) access to needed and adequate health care. Along with the nature and
severity of the illness or condition, these factors determine what level of
health care access a child receives. Much of the academic research studying
health care access for CSHCN focuses on the child’s level of health care
insurance.
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