Open AccessCoverage And Care Consequences For Families In Which Children Have Mixed Eligibility For Public Insurance
Author(s) -
Julie Hudson,
Abdus Salam
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
health affairs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.837
H-Index - 178
eISSN - 2694-233X
pISSN - 0278-2715
DOI - 10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0128
Subject(s) - medicaid , medical expenditure panel survey , public health insurance , medicine , health insurance , family medicine , public health , national health interview survey , health care , environmental health , population , nursing , economics , economic growth
Public health insurance for low-income children in the United States is primarily available through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Mixed eligibility occurs when there is a mix of either "Medicaid- and CHIP-eligible" children or a mix of "eligible (for public insurance) and ineligible (for public insurance)" children in the family. We used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) Household Component for 2001-12 to examine insurance coverage, access to care, and health care use for eligible children in families with mixed-eligible siblings compared to those in families where all siblings were eligible for one program. We found that mixed eligibility has a significant dampening effect for eligible children in families with a mix of eligible and ineligible siblings. These children were more likely to be uninsured and less likely to have a usual source of care, less likely to have any preventive dental or well-child visits during the year, and less likely to fully adhere to recommended preventive dental and well-child visits than eligible children with all-Medicaid- or all-CHIP-eligible siblings. We found no significant impact for eligible children living in Medicaid-CHIP-mixed families.