The News:
"Shocking" gaps in kids' health care shown
Study's subjects got right care less than half the time; most were insured
By Linda A. Johnson, The Associated Press
Article Last Updated: 10/10/2007 11:22:13 PM MDT
As Washington debates children's health insurance, a startling study finds that kids who regularly see doctors get the right care less than half the time - whether it's preschool shots or chlamydia tests for teen girls.
The findings, from the first comprehensive look at children's health care quality, are particularly troubling because nearly all the 1,536 children in the nationwide study had insurance.
Eight-two percent were covered by private insurance. Three- quarters were white, and all lived in or near large or midsize cities.
Two experts called the findings "shocking." Others said minority children - those with more-restrictive government insurance and the millions with no insurance at all - certainly fare even worse.
They said the results highlight the importance of the debate over the proposed expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which Congress approved and President Bush vetoed. A vote to override the veto is set for next week.
The study, by the Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and the nonprofit Rand Corp. research group, concludes that overall, doctors gave children the appropriate outpatient medical care only 47 percent of the time
The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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1 comment:
Elaine, thanks for this post. I teach Human Growth and Development. We are in the Childhood Unit now and I plan to refer students to this article. It will be good information and a good opportunity to encourage them to look into an important journal.
Diana Joy
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