Monday, March 23, 2015
Forgoing care because of a lack of health insurance can lead to long-term detrimental effects on children’s health and well-being. This is especially true for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) who require health services beyond those required by children generally. Yet some CSHCN and their families may face particular barriers to coverage and care due to race/ethnicity, age, language, or socioeconomic, immigration, or functional status.
The Catalyst Center, the National Center for Health Insurance and Financing for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs, has produced several publications that can help organizations recognize and counter the impacts that health insurance inequities may have on CSHCN, including
- A peer-reviewed journal article outlining how social workers can address disparities in insurance coverage among CSHCN
- Fact sheets focusing on health inequities among CSHCN generally, and low-income, immigrant, and Latino CSHCN specifically
- A brief that shares strategies family leader organizations use to improve outreach and enrollment for underserved and vulnerable families
- A primer that focuses on financing the special health care needs of children in foster care
The Catalyst Center recognizes the impact of health inequities on vulnerable and underserved populations. We are committed to raising awareness of this issue and working to identify and disseminate strategies to overcome barriers to coverage and care. Towards this goal, addressing health insurance inequities is a component of all aspects of our work, from the chartbook that provides state data on health coverage and health care financing for CSHCN to its analyses of the impact of the Affordable Care Act. The Catalyst Center has been a project of the Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice since 2005.