Current legislative efforts aimed at improving health care for children tend to focus on low income children. It is unclear whether this type of legislative action will address what may be the unique service needs of children with disabilities. I use the 1994 / 1995 NHIS-D to address who is more likely to have unmet (or under met) service needs and how this need relates to disability type and severity as well as family income. This provides a first step in determining whether it is appropriate to focus policy efforts for children with disabilities solely at low income children. I focus on five categories of service found in the NHIS: family services, therapy services, communication services, daily living services, and some medical services. Included in the analysis are children with one or more functional limitations in the areas of communication, learning, selfcare, or mobility, as defined by prior research. I find that 42% of children with disabilities report having at least one service need, 8% of whom report at least one unmet service need. Children with at least two severe limitations and children with selfcare limitations are significantly more likely to have unmet service needs than other children. Additionally, I find that one third of children with disabilities who have unmet service needs have family incomes above 200% of the poverty level for their family type.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: 1. Identify the unique service needs of children with disabilities and assess how well these needs are being met; and 2. Assess how well targeted health policies such as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)can meet these needs.
Keywords: Disability Policy, National Health Interview Survey
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: I use data from the National Health Interview Survey, Disability Supplement.
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.