Access to medical care and use of services

Nine out of ten children in Iowa have a regular source of medical care, defined as one person the parent or guardian thinks of as their child's personal doctor or nurse. Nationally, 93% of children have a regular source of care.⁷ There were differences for Iowa's CSHCN regarding access to care and use of services. Reported need for care varied: CSHCN were much more likely to need medical care (72%) than children without special needs (48%). Unmet need for medical care was also more common for CSHCN (7% vs 2%). In both groups, about half of those with unmet need reported cost as the reason for having been stopped from receiving care at some point in the previous year; CSHCN were much more likely to have been stopped because their insurance did not cover the needed care (38% vs 12%). Children with special needs had more physician visits (47% had 5 or more visits vs 19% ) and were more likely to have been to a hospital emergency room (ER) in previous year (44% vs 28%). Six percent of CSHCN had been to a hospital ER five or more times within the year.

⁷ See http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/measure02.pdf