An investigation of the medical care utilization of children with severe asthma according to their type of insurance.
A comparison of the medical care utilization of children with severe asthma according to insurance type was performed. Subjects were grouped by which type of insurance they had: capitated, fee for service, or Medicaid insurance. Medical records were coded into utilization categories, by presenting complaint, sick- or well-child visit, and if a generalist or specialist provided care during the visit. The Medicaid group had less specialist, sick-child care than the groups with capitated or fee for service insurance. The Medicaid group also had more emergency room visits than the other two groups. The three groups had a similar amount of total physician/clinic visits. Even though similar care was shown to be available for those with Medicaid insurance, this low resource group often uses expensive emergency room care.
Price
M R
MR
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, USA. pricem@njc.org
Norris
J M
JM
Bucher Bartleson
B
B
Gavin
L A
LA
Klinnert
M D
MD
D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D002204:Capitation Fee; D002648:Child; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000145:classification*; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid; D008499:Medical Records; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014481:United States