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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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2018-04-01
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Series: | Journal of Public Health Research |
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Online Access: | http://jphres.org/index.php/jphres/article/view/1280 |
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author | Tulay G. Soylu Eman Elashkar Fatemah Aloudah Munir Ahmed Panagiota Kitsantas |
author_facet | Tulay G. Soylu Eman Elashkar Fatemah Aloudah Munir Ahmed Panagiota Kitsantas |
author_sort | Tulay G. Soylu |
collection | DOAJ |
description | 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. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:06:41Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-e8e94a01dfda45d6b629b426acb9dbc8 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2279-9028 2279-9036 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T03:06:41Z |
publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
publisher | SAGE Publishing |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Public Health Research |
spelling | doaj.art-e8e94a01dfda45d6b629b426acb9dbc82023-01-02T13:08:01ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Public Health Research2279-90282279-90362018-04-017110.4081/jphr.2018.12801280Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s HealthTulay G. Soylu0Eman Elashkar1Fatemah Aloudah2Munir Ahmed3Panagiota Kitsantas4Department of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VADepartment of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VADepartment of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VADepartment of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VADepartment of Health Administration and Policy, George Mason University, Fairfax, VABackground: 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.http://jphres.org/index.php/jphres/article/view/1280Health insurance adequacyhealth insurance consistencyrace/ethnicitychildrensociodemographic and family factors |
spellingShingle | Tulay G. Soylu Eman Elashkar Fatemah Aloudah Munir Ahmed Panagiota Kitsantas Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health Journal of Public Health Research Health insurance adequacy health insurance consistency race/ethnicity children sociodemographic and family factors |
title | Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health |
title_full | Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health |
title_fullStr | Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health |
title_full_unstemmed | Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health |
title_short | Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health |
title_sort | racial ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children evidence from the 2011 12 national survey of children s health |
topic | Health insurance adequacy health insurance consistency race/ethnicity children sociodemographic and family factors |
url | http://jphres.org/index.php/jphres/article/view/1280 |
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