title: Health-related unmet needs of supplemental security income youth after the age-18 redetermination.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Young adults who exit Supplemental Security Income (SSI) after their age-18 eligibility redetermination may have greater health-related unmet needs than those who remain on SSI. The objective of this paper is to determine the magnitude and causes of this gap.
  
  
  METHODS
  Uses the 2001-2002 National Survey of SSI Children and Families, a nationally representative survey of SSI youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-reported unmet medical, dental, and prescription drug needs of 869 individuals ages 19-23 who have had their SSI eligibility redetermined are compared. In addition to raw differences in unmet needs, logistic regressions are used to determine the sources of these differences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Young adults who exit SSI are almost twice as likely to have health-related unmet needs subsequent to their exit as those who remain on SSI after the age-18 redetermination. Access to care, particularly insurance coverage (either Medicaid or non-Medicaid), accounts for much of the difference between these two groups; measures of health status do not explain much of the difference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Policies addressing access to health care are likely to be more successful in addressing unmet needs than policies focused on disability-specific issues in health for youth who lose access to SSI after their age-18 redetermination.
authors.affiliation: Social Security Administration, 3-C-25D Operations, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235, USA. jeffrey.hemmeter@ssa.gov
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hemmeter
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult