Health Care Reform: One Year Later
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This video about health reform was created by the Kaiser Family Foundation. |
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the signing of the federal Affordable Care Act. While some key provisions are not yet in place, children and families already have been affected by the new law, especially children with special health care needs.
In California, 8% of children with special needs are uninsured, and among those who are insured, 35% of have inadequate coverage, according to 2007 data. These children may be uninsured because they are denied coverage on the open market – health insurers tend to reject children with pre-existing conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and autism, due to higher costs of care for these children. However, since the signing of the Affordable Care Act, approximately 576,500 California children with pre-existing conditions are now protected, according to Families USA; under the new law, insurers no longer can deny health coverage to these children.
Some other health reform provisions affecting children and families already have been implemented as well, including:
- Parents now can keep children on their health insurance policies until age 26. This helps reduce the rate of uninsurance among older teens and young adults.
- Insurers cannot charge co-payments, deductibles, or co-insurance for certain preventive care, thereby reducing families’ out-of-pocket expenses.
- Insurance companies cannot drop coverage for people who are sick.
- There are no longer lifetime limits on coverage.
See what other changes lie ahead under the Affordable Care Act with this timeline.
Posted by Jordan Handcox
Tags: Child Health Issues
March Awareness Campaigns: Breakfast, Diabetes, Inhalants
Several important children’s health observances take place this month. Following are highlights, along with related data from kidsdata.org.
National School Breakfast Week was March 7 – 11. In California, 2006-’08 data show that students in 7th grade are more likely than 9th and 11th graders to say they ate breakfast that morning. Among 7th and 9th graders, boys are more likely than girls to say that they ate breakfast that morning. These data also show that Asian American and Caucasian/White students were most likely to say they ate breakfast (66% and 65%, respectively), while African American (53%) and Latino students (55%) were least likely to report having eaten breakfast.
The American Diabetes Alert Day which took place March 22, challenges all Americans to explore their risk for developing type 2 diabetes by taking the proper preventive health tests. According to 2005-06 data, 1% of California children with special care needs have diabetes.
Inhalants Prevention Week is this week (March 20-26) and aims to increase understanding about the use and risks of inhalants. Although most 7th, 9th, and 11th graders in California in 2006-08 said they had never used an inhalant, 5.8% of 9th-grade girls and 4.9% of 9th-grade boys reported using an inhalant 4 or more times. Students who report feeling less connected to their school also have higher levels of inhalant use.
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Health Observances
East Bay Studies Reveal Health Disparities
Data released this month from local East Bay studies show wide disparities in several areas of health — and a subsequent impact on life expectancy.
A few key findings, from a series in the Contra Costa Times on these studies:
- In Alameda County, the life expectancy for an Asian American girl is 20 years longer than that of an African American boy.
- In Contra Costa County, children born into low-income communities have a life expectancy of 75 years, compared to 82 years in higher-income areas.
The studies, which considered both adult and child health, also looked at specific health issues such as obesity, asthma, and cancer. Detailed maps show obesity rates — as high as 41% in one school district in Alameda County — and rates of childhood asthma, available by city. These data showed significant disparities between cities in hospitalization rates for childhood asthma, from 800.7 per 100, 000 children in Oakland, to 118.4 per 100,000 in Pleasanton.
The studies were funded by the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California, and aim to help hospitals analyze and address local health needs. County officials say they’ll also use the data to focus their attention and resources on key issues and demographic groups.
If you don’t live in the East Bay – or even if you do – kidsdata.org offers data on cancer rates, asthma hospitalizations, weight, and many other issues for your community.
Kudos to the hospital council and Contra Costa and Alameda counties for generating and using such a rich data set. Such local data are invaluable for raising the visibility of serious child health issues in our communities.
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Child Health Initiatives, Data Projects
Poverty Linked to Wide Array of Child Health Issues, Parent Survey Shows
Newly updated data reveal that the percentage of California public school students eligible for free/reduced price meals rose from 51% in ’08 to 56% in ’10 — an increase of more than 281,000 children statewide. Eligibility for this program is widely viewed as a proxy measure for poverty.
As increasing numbers of children fall below the income level required to qualify for the program, it’s instructive to note data from our foundation’s 2010 California Parent Survey. The survey asked parents of 1,685 children how their child was faring across dozens of measures that address the whole terrain of childhood, from physical, emotional and behavioral health to school-related issues and family and societal influences. Parents’ responses highlight the many ways that poverty is connected to child health.
The parents of one-quarter of children said their family’s income was not adequate to meet their child’s basic needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter. The survey also showed that lower-income children have poorer health; lower quality health care; poorer emotional health; higher rates of depression; neighborhoods that are less safe; lower-quality schools, and less satisfactory child care arrangements (differences were statistically significant.)
These results conform with a substantial body of research that links poverty with long-term negative consequences for children. According to a 2009 Child Trends analysis of 10 studies, poor children are more likely than children from more affluent families to have low academic achievement, to drop out of school, and to have health, behavioral, and emotional problems. As the Child Trends report notes, “these linkages are particularly strong for children whose families experience deep poverty, who are poor during early childhood, and who are trapped in poverty for a long time.”
For policy implications related to child poverty, see the Child Trends report.
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Data Projects, New Data
February News Roundup Features Articles About Autism, Childhood Obesity in CA, Vaccinations, and More.
The February issue of the Kidsdata News Roundup now is available – you can read it here.
A few highlights:
Autism
Autism Diagnoses Triple Among K-12 Students, New Data on Kidsdata.org Show
(California Watch, 2/4/11, by Lin)
Report: Almost 40% of U.S. Youth with Autism Receive No Medical, Mental Health Assistance for Transition to Adulthood
(HealthDay, 2/9/11, by Goodwin)
Special Health Care Needs
Childhood Chronic Illness Affects Future Income, Education, Career, Study Finds
(Health Behavior News Service, 2/1/11, by Esposito)
Vaccinations
Study: Some Vaccines Tied to Lower Kids’ Leukemia Risks
(Reuters, 2/2/11, by Pittman)
Parents Who Resist Childhood Vaccinations Raise Public Health Concerns
(SF Chronicle, 2/7/11, by Shlaes)
Weight
Many California Voters Say Childhood Obesity Is a Serious Issue, Survey Shows
(SF Gate, 2/8/11, by Mohajer)
Study: Kids’ Chances of Being Overweight Rise the Longer Their Mothers Work Outside the Home
(HealthDay, 2/4/11, by Behen)
Posted by Jordan Handcox
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Affordable Health Insurance for Kids – Open Enrollment Deadline Tomorrow
Parents: don’t forget to take advantage of a new state law and sign up your children for private health insurance plans before open enrollment ends tomorrow, March 1. Under the new law, insurers must offer child-only policies despite pre-existing conditions, and can not charge more than twice the standard rate for children who have prior conditions.
For more details, read our previous post on this topic, see this article in the LA Times, or visit the website of the California Insurance Commissioner.
Posted by kidsdata.org
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At Health 2.0, Data + Technology = Problem Solving
It’s amazing what can be accomplished in one day when great minds come together to find new ways to address health issues.
About a week ago, kidsdata.org participated in a code-a-thon sponsored by Health 2.0 and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For those who don’t know, a code-a-thon is essentially a hack-fest — a bunch of coders come together, divide into teams and spend one day building websites, apps, and other technology to tackle problems.
This time around, all the problems focused on health, and about 100 developers turned out. By the end of the day, we saw novel approaches to some serious health issues, including: motivating people to exercise or eat right, developing useful school health records for kids with special needs, and taking advantage of free services available through health reform. A short summary of all the projects developed is available in this blog post on applicationsforgood.org, but here’s a snapshot of one that particularly interested us:
One team from Capito Life Technologies came up with an approach for tracking health records at school for children with special health care needs, and then using those records to keep parents and doctors informed of a child’s condition. Using data from kidsdata.org, the team determined that asthma is one of the most common conditions facing this population of children. (42% of kids with special needs in California have asthma.) And, asthma is a condition that affects a large population of children in California — about 15% — and often must be treated during the school day.
The coders developed an online school health records system, so that all of a student’s health information could be stored in one place. The system also would include information about what medications the student is taking, and the prescribed dosages. If a student visited the nurse’s office due to an asthma attack, for example, a nurse could use the online system to record the student’s condition, and note any medication that was given, as well as the outcome. The system would then send a text message to that student’s parent to keep them up to date on their child’s condition. All the information in the system would be secure and password-protected, and also available for download for a physician or parent.
Amazingly, the team built that entire system in about 7 hours at the code-a-thon.
Maybe it was the inspirational surroundings (the event was held at the Google campus) or maybe it was the competitive spirit among the developers, but everyone at the event was passionate about improving health through technology. And, as you can see, real solutions were created.
Posted by Felicity Simmons
Tags: Child Health Issues, Data Challenges
A Closer Look at the Growth in Autism Diagnoses
A few years ago, we published an issue brief, “Autism Diagnoses on the Rise,” that explored the steep climb in autism diagnoses across California. So what does the trend look like these days? About the same, it turns out. Newly released data from the California Department of Education show that the growth in special education students diagnosed with autism continues unabated, from roughly 17,500 California public school students in 2002 to nearly 60,000 in 2010.
As you dig deeper, however, some other trends emerge. First, while students with autism comprise a greater share of all special education students in California compared to roughly a decade ago (from about 3% of all special education students in ’02 to about 9% in ’10), numbers are on the rise for another diagnosis, too — “other health impairment.” The California Department of Education defines this as “having limited strength, vitality or alertness, due to chronic or acute health problems, such as a heart condition, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, lead poisoning, leukemia, or diabetes.” Meanwhile, the percent of special education students diagnosed with a learning disability has dropped considerably, from 52% of all special education students in 2002 to 42% in 2010.
This Google animation, which uses data from kidsdata.org indicators, shows the relative growth/decrease in special education enrollments by the three conditions noted above. First click on the bar graph icon in the top-right, then press play in the bottom left.
We encourage our readers to provide some perspective on these trends. We do know that research shows that federal and state finance reform may be contributing to declining learning disability rates in California (and across the nation). As for autism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that whether the increases are “attributable to a true increase in the risk for developing ASD [autism spectrum disorders] symptoms or solely to changes in community awareness and identification patterns is not known.” Comments from users like you can help us illuminate what’s going on both locally and statewide, and provide broader perspective on the growth in autism diagnoses.
Posted by Andy Krackov
Tags: Child Health Issues, CSHCN, New Data
California Ranks 44th Nationally on Child Health System Performance
A Commonwealth Fund study released today, The State Scorecard on Child Health System Performance, finds that California ranks 44th in the nation on a scorecard composed of 20 indicators measuring health care access, affordability of care, health system equity, and other issues.
The report specifically assessed some indicators regarding children with special health care needs, and these new rankings echo the findings of a related report that was released recently recently by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. That study found that California ranked worst in the nation on a composite index that measures whether children with special health care needs have adequate health insurance, receive basic preventive care, and receive medical care that is comprehensive, ongoing and family-centered.
The two studies together serve as a reminder that the system of care as it currently exists is not working well for California children, particularly those with special health care needs. The California budget crisis only exacerbates the situation, so it becomes increasingly imperative to find innovative ways to preserve vital services for these highly vulnerable children.
The Commonwealth Fund study reiterates data that were highlighted in our report, including the fact that California ranks 49th in whether children with special health care needs had problems receiving medical referrals when needed. The state ranked 31st on children with special health care needs whose families received all needed family support services.
Children with special health care needs comprise about one in seven children in California. They have a chronic condition that requires health care beyond what is needed by most children. Conditions may range from relatively mild asthma to highly complex conditions such as cerebral palsy or heart disease. Many have multiple health conditions.
Please consider joining the new California Collaborative for Children with Special Health Care Needs, which will work toward improving the system of care so that it can support these children and their families on a consistent and sustainable basis.
Posted by kidsdata.org
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Act Fast to Enroll in Affordable Health Insurance for Your Child
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones and other state officials are urging families to take advantage of a new state law and sign up their children for private health insurance plans before open enrollment ends March 1. Under the new law, insurers must offer child-only policies despite pre-existing conditions, and can not charge more than twice the standard rate for children who have prior conditions.
For more details, see this article in the LA Times, or visit the website of the California Insurance Commissioner.
In California, about 6% of children ages 0-17 were uninsured in 2007. The children perhaps most affected by the preexisting condition clause are children with special health care needs — about 15% of the state’s child population. Some of these children have complex conditions, many of which include functional limitations requiring constant care. And about 35% of children with special health care needs have parents who say their insurance coverage is not adequate.
We encourage you to spread the word about this open enrollment period for child health insurance, so that all families, especially those with a special needs child, can take advantage of affordable options.
Posted by kidsdata.org
Tags: Child Health Issues