277478
Has public health care benefits helped to level the playing field for children with special health care needs as they transition into adulthood?
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
: 12:30 p.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Sue Chienshy Lin, PhD MS,
Bureau of Primary Health Care, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, MD
Mei Ling T. Lee, PhD,
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics,University of Maryland School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) from families with lower socioeconomic status rely on federal public service programs to support their healthy and educational development. Recently, several state governors have advocated that Medicaid, the state-federal health program that covers 50 million poor and disabled, be transformed into block grants in an attempt to reduce federal spending. The block grant could potentially cap the level of federal support and reduce the number of beneficiaries for this program. Using the 2007 Survey of Adult Transition and Health (SATH), this cross-sectional study compares the transition outcomes between children with special health care needs who received Medicaid (N= 210) versus other types of health insurance coverage (N=1649). The multivariate logistic regression analysis results indicated that CSHCN with Medicaid are 1) more likely to get help arranging or coordination care (AOR=1.47, 95% CI= 1.09, 1.98), 2) need extra help arranging care in the past 12 months (AOR=1.96, 95% CI= 1.33, 2.87), 3) have doctors help in connecting with youth/adult mentors (AOR=1.16, 95% CI= 1.06, 2.01), and 4) participate in transition plan development (AOR=1.86, 95% CI= 1.13, 3.07). Changes to Medicaid could lead to setbacks in the advance achieved over the decades and significantly impact in access to health care and successful transition to adulthood for CSHCN in health, work, and independent living.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Public health or related public policy
Learning Objectives:
Compare transition outcomes for children with special health care needs between those with private versus public insurance
Keyword(s): Disability Policy, Youth
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Presently, I am a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Primary Health Care at Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). I have conducted research focused on children with special health care needs including those with autism spectrum disorder and neurodevelopmental disabilities using national survey datasets. Among my research interests have been public health infrastructure and systems of service for children, youths, and adults with disabilities.
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.
