270184 Heath Care Access among Adults with Disabilities on Medicaid

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 3:11 PM - 3:29 PM

Tamar Heller, PhD , Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Dale Mitchell, PhD , Department of Disabiltiy and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Randall Owen, PhD , Department of Disabiltiy and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Alfiya Battalova , Department of Disabiltiy and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Teresa Garate, MEd , Illinois Department of Public Health, Chicago, IL
     
As many states are rolling out innovative health care systems for their Medicaid population, it is important to examine current health care access for Medicaid recipients with disabilities. This study examined the unmet health care needs and health care satisfaction of adults with disabilities on Medicaid. Secondly, it compared differences in these outcomes for people with developmental disabilities, mental health, or physical disabilities. The sample included 348 adults with developmental disabilities (n=114), mental health (n=107), and physical disabilities (n=127) who answered (self or informant) a survey sent to a random sample of adults on Medicaid (without Medicare) in several Midwest counties. The response rate was 30%. The survey, conducted prior to the introduction of an integrated health care program, asked about access to specialty care, specialty health professionals, and preventive care and satisfaction with health care in the last year. The greatest unmet need was for dental services with 34% having unmet needs. Significant group differences were in speech and language services with highest need in the developmental disabilities group (11%) and in psychiatric services with highest need in the mental health group (13%). In regard to preventive care most persons reported that health professionals did not discuss their nutrition (64%) or physical activity (67%) or weighed them on a scale (85%). Satisfaction with health care was lowest for persons with mental health disabilities. This presentation will present additional results from the satisfaction survey and discuss implications of the findings for innovations in health care for persons with disabilities.

Learning Areas:
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
To assess the access of adults with disabilities on Medicaid to specialty health care, health specialists, and preventive care and their satisfaction with their health care.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Disability Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Professor,Head of the Department of Disability and Human Development, and director of the Institute on Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago. I also direct the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Aging with Developmental Disabilities: Lifespan Health and Function and the Institute’s Family Clinics, and the TAP autism training program.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3328.0: Implications of changing health care policies on persons with disabilities