TY - JOUR
T1 - How Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program can do a better job of insuring uninsured children
T2 - The perspectives of parents of uninsured Latino children
AU - Flores, Glenn
AU - Abreu, Milagros
AU - Brown, Vanessa
AU - Tomany-Korman, Sandra C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by grants from the Minority Medical Faculty Development Program and Generalist Physician Faculty Scholars Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, an Independent Scientist (K02) Award from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and a Hispanic Health Services Researcher award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - Background. - Eight and a half million US children are uninsured, despite the 1997 enactment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) with $39 billion in funding, and Latinos continue to be the most uninsured racial/ethnic group, with 24% (3 million) uninsured. Why SCHIP and Medicaid have not been more successful insuring uninsured children is unclear. Objective. - To identify reasons why parents are unable to insure uninsured Latino children in a state where all low-income children are eligible for insurance. Methods. - Bilingual focus groups of parents of uninsured Latino children from Boston communities with the highest proportion of uninsured Latino children. Results. - The 30 parents interviewed in 6 focus groups had a mean age of 39 years; 63% never graduated high school and 33% were US citizens. The mean age of their children was 12 years, and the median annual family income was $9120. Parents reported 52 barriers to insuring children. Major obstacles included lack of knowledge about the application process and eligibility (especially misconceptions about work, welfare, and immigration), language barriers, immigration issues, income, hassles, pending decisions, family mobility, misinformation from insurance representatives (being told insurance is too expensive and parents must work), and system problems (including lost applications, discrimination, and excessive waits). Parents universally agreed case managers would be helpful in insuring uninsured children. Conclusions. - Even in a state where all low-income children are eligible for health insurance, current SCHIP and Medicaid outreach and enrollment are not effectively reaching uninsured Latino children. Parents need better information about programs, eligibility, and the application process, and a more efficient, user-friendly system.
AB - Background. - Eight and a half million US children are uninsured, despite the 1997 enactment of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) with $39 billion in funding, and Latinos continue to be the most uninsured racial/ethnic group, with 24% (3 million) uninsured. Why SCHIP and Medicaid have not been more successful insuring uninsured children is unclear. Objective. - To identify reasons why parents are unable to insure uninsured Latino children in a state where all low-income children are eligible for insurance. Methods. - Bilingual focus groups of parents of uninsured Latino children from Boston communities with the highest proportion of uninsured Latino children. Results. - The 30 parents interviewed in 6 focus groups had a mean age of 39 years; 63% never graduated high school and 33% were US citizens. The mean age of their children was 12 years, and the median annual family income was $9120. Parents reported 52 barriers to insuring children. Major obstacles included lack of knowledge about the application process and eligibility (especially misconceptions about work, welfare, and immigration), language barriers, immigration issues, income, hassles, pending decisions, family mobility, misinformation from insurance representatives (being told insurance is too expensive and parents must work), and system problems (including lost applications, discrimination, and excessive waits). Parents universally agreed case managers would be helpful in insuring uninsured children. Conclusions. - Even in a state where all low-income children are eligible for health insurance, current SCHIP and Medicaid outreach and enrollment are not effectively reaching uninsured Latino children. Parents need better information about programs, eligibility, and the application process, and a more efficient, user-friendly system.
KW - Children
KW - Focus groups
KW - Health services research
KW - Hispanic Americans
KW - Pediatrics
KW - Uninsured
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U2 - 10.1367/A04-067R2.1
DO - 10.1367/A04-067R2.1
M3 - Article
C2 - 16302834
AN - SCOPUS:28944447099
SN - 1530-1567
VL - 5
SP - 332
EP - 340
JO - Ambulatory Pediatrics
JF - Ambulatory Pediatrics
IS - 6
ER -