Research Lead: Susmita Pati, MD, MPH
Background
Children with chronic conditions (CCCs), require regular health supervision to achieve optimal health outcomes. For these children, gaps in health care coverage may interfere with their ability to access and benefit from regular health supervision visits because their families may not be able to afford health care during spells without coverage. Lack of regular health supervision may also lead to acute exacerbations of conditions that require costly treatments. CCCs from low-income families have greater severity of their conditions than those from high-income families. Therefore, for CCCs from low-income families, the combined effect of discontinuous coverage and severity of chronic conditions may lead to increased health care expenses, and, in turn, disproportionate financial burden.
Aims
- Estimate the financial burden of gaps in coverage on households of CCCs.
- Estimate medical expenditures among families of CCCs, and analyze the financial burden of expenditures on these families.
Methods
Study design: Retrospective secondary data analysis
Population: Households of children with chronic conditions (CCCs) sampled in the 1999-2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Progress
Analysis is ongoing.
