According to a new survey conducted in Ohio, about 13% of parents with health insurance say they
haven’t gotten pediatrician-recommended care for their children due to costs.
The survey revealed that children of parents covered by private health insurance were more likely than those with public health insurance, for example, Medicaid or the State Children’s
Health Insurance Program, to report not obtaining certain prescribed or referred medical care or treatment (such as seeing a recommended specialist, filling a prescription or getting a lab test) because of their difficulty in paying for it, that is, their inability to pay for deductibles, co-pays and other costs. In the survey, about 61% of parents had children covered by private insurance while about 39% had public insurance.
According to the authors of the study, the recession, high unemployment and increasing costs of health care seem to be making things worse. Nearly 17% of parents said it was harder to obtain the health care their children needed than it was three years ago, this includes 12.8% of parents with public health insurance and 17.8% of those with private health insurance. According to the survey, children of parents whose household incomes are under $74,999 annually are having the hardest time getting the care they need.
Injured children or sick children need medical treatment, and should not be shut out by large insurance companies. The alternative can result in disaster for children nationwide and in Kentucky because there are health risks that are easily resolved with early detection, however, if left undetected or treated could lead to a very sick child. This is a shame that insurance companies do not include coverage for recommended additional or prescribed tests or specialists for children because more & more parents are unable to afford the increasing costs of health care.