 |
 |
|
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.(5) There were differences for Iowa's children regarding having a regular source of care by race/ethnicity. Asian children were most likely to have a regular source (94%), followed by White children (91%), African-American children (87%) and Latino children (84%). Reported need for medical care in the previous 12 months also varied: White children were most likely to have needed medical care (53%). Almost half of Latino children (45%) needed medical care compared to 32% of African-American and 30% of Asian children. Unmet need for medical care was similar for Latino and White children, with 3% having been stopped from receiving medical care in the previous 12 months for some reason (the number of African-American and Asian children in the sample with unmet need were too small to report accurately). Almost half of the African-American children had been to a hospital emergency room (ER) in the previous year (45%). This compares to about one-third of White (31%) and Latino (29%) children, and 15% of Asian children. Health insurance Six percent of children in Iowa did not have health insurance at the time of the interview, and another 6% had been uninsured at some point in the previous year. This varied by race/ethnicity, with Latino children being most likely to be without insurance at the time of the interview (12%) and Asian children least likely (2%).
Figure
5. Percent of children
currently uninsured
or uninsured The type of coverage for those with insurance also varied by race/ethnicity. African- American children were most likely to be enrolled in Medicaid (30%) and Asian children least likely (2%). Asian and White children were most likely to have private health insurance.
Figure 6. Insurance status Dental insurance coverage also varied by race/ethncity. White (26%) and Latino (22%) children were most likely to be without dental insurance, while African American (12%) and Asian (14%) children were least likely to be without dental insurance. The rate of uninsured parents was higher than that for children, and also varied by race/ethnicity. Latino (18%) and African-American children were most likely to have parents who were uninsured compared to the parents of White (10%) and Asian (4%) children. Functional health status of children White chldren were reported to be in better health than their minority counterparts (Figure 7). Over 90% of White children were reported to be in either excellent (67%) or very good (24%) health. Although the health of White children was rated better in general, White and African-American children were more likely to have a special health care need and more likely to have been limited in the last 12 months because of their physical health.
Figure 7. Parent-reported health status of children by race Nineteen percent and 17% of African-American and White children, respectively, had a special health care need as defined by a screening instrument developed by the Foundation for Accountability (FACCT).(6) Fourteen percent of Latino children and 9% of Asian children had a special health care need. About one in seven African-American (14%) and White (13%) children were limited in the activities they could do in the previous 12 months because of their physical health compared to 11% of Latino and 5% of Asian children. Preventive care African-American children were more likely to have had a preventive health care visit in the previous year (93%) than Asian (86%), Latino (80%) or White (76%) children. Asian children, however, were most likely to have received anticipatory guidance (39%), defined as whether the parent had received information about seat belts, car seats, bicycle safety or nutrition counseling, depending on the age of the child in the previous year. This compares to between 25 and 30% of children of the other race/ethnicities who were reported to have received anticipatory guidance in the previous 12 months. Dental care About three quarters of all children (76%) had a dental checkup in the previous year. Asian children were most likely to have had a dental checkup (83%) while Latino children were least likely (71%). Fewer African-American children (36%) were reported to need dental care in the previous 12 months than children of the other three race/ethnicities (about 47%). Twice the percentage of Latino children had unmet need for dental care (i.e., had been stopped from getting dental care in the previous 12 months) as White children (7%). (continued on next page)
|
 |
 |