Racial/ethnic differences in health insurance adequacy and consistency among children: Evidence from the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health

Abstract

© T.G. Soylu et al., 2018. As the number of minority US children increases, monitoring racial/ethnic differences in health insurance coverage becomes critical in creating insurance programs that can provide adequate and consistent coverage. Using a nationally representative sample, the findings of this study suggest that low income and poor maternal health can adversely affect insurance consistency and adequacy for both minority and white children. This indicates that research studies on inequalities of healthcare coverage should also focus on underserved white populations of children as their insurance coverage is affected by similar factors as those for minority children. Elimination of inequalities may require targeted interventions that include the well-being of the entire family, cross-cultural education of healthcare providers, policy changes to grant low-income children with appropriate and reliable health insurance, and an ongoing monitoring of disparities by health plans.