More than 20 million U.S. kids lack sufficient access to health care, study finds

When it comes to children receiving primary care, the problem in Merced County and around the country isn’t making sure the majority have health insurance, a study shows, it’s making sure those children have adequate access to medical care.

Although federal efforts have led to a record-low 3.3 million children without health insurance, more than 20 million U.S. children lack sufficient access to essential health care, according to a new report by the Children’s Health Fund.

The analysis, “Unfinished Business,” found that America’s uninsured children, those with coverage who don’t get regular primary care and those with public coverage who don’t get timely specialty care, account for 20.3 million youngsters, or 28 percent of kids under age 18.

The analysis, based on federal health survey data from 2014 and 2015, showed there was a “long way to go before we can claim that all U.S. children have access to the care they need,” said a statement from Dr. Irwin Redlener, co-founder and president of the Children’s Health Fund, a national nonprofit group that operates 53 mobile health clinics that provide medical care to disadvantaged children nationwide.

“There has been a persistent misconception that simply providing health insurance is the same as assuring effective access to appropriate health care. It isn’t,” Redlener’s statement added. “Although Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and most recently the Affordable Care Act insure more children than ever before, millions of kids are not getting the care they need.”

More than 95 percent of children ages 17 and under in Merced County had health insurance as of 2014, according to kidsdata.org, yet the county is considered a “health professional shortage area,” says the Merced County 2016 Community Health Assessment, a study from the Merced County Department of Public Health.

In California, 5.4 percent of children 17 and under were uninsured.

“Now there’s a vast majority insured, but are they getting the care they should be getting?” Redlener asked. “In Merced County, because they’re a health professional shortage area, getting an appointment is the problem.”

The report calls for more incentives for health care providers to serve poor communities and to provide greater access through telehealth and mobile clinics. It also recommends expansion of school health services, expanded transportation services for patients, greater promotion of health literacy and more assistance for parents who don’t speak English.

Individuals in areas such as Merced County who have problems acquiring medical appointments, Redlener said, should look to federally qualified community health centers. A lot of the time, physicians there want to help and work with the populations who are under economic and sociological stress, he said.

Making sure children have a “medical home” or a physician who knows them and their medical records is “critical,” Redlener said, because there are many things that need to be talked about, including brain growth, vaccinations and prevention screenings. Parents should have a “more proactive” role when it comes to their children receiving adequate health care, he said.

“You should be able to go to a doctor that knows you and knows your medical records,” Redlener said. “Insurance is not the same as access to care.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2016 at 12:10 PM with the headline "More than 20 million U.S. kids lack sufficient access to health care, study finds."