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Health Care In America
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Is Affordable Health Insurance Helping Minority Children?
January 2008
When American health care is discussed in conjunction with minorities, it isn't usually good news we hear. However, this week's release regarding health care disparities by the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report seems to be the exception that proves the rule. Could it be that attempts to make affordable health insurance available regardless of race or income are finally working?
The answer is relative. The article makes it clear that health care disparities still remain between white and minority children, but the gaps have narrowed over the past 20 years, according to a report sponsored by the Foundation for Child Development. This means that since the late 1980s there have indeed been improvements in what the foundation calls "the child well-being index."
The narrowing of this gap between minority and white children has, in part, been attributed to the fact that the number of white, black and Hispanic children with health insurance has increased since 1985. So, is there more affordable health insurance available to minority children?
Apparently there is, and then there isn't. On the one hand, the open market of the Internet has provided a space where consumers can shop around more aggressively for their health care. Combined with a greater knowledge of things like deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket expenses, some people are better armed with the information they need to get the most affordable plan available to them.
But education can only do so much. The narrowing gap between the child well-being index for minority and white children has been more likely associated with the expansion of SCHIP, The State Childrens Health Insurance Program, which provides health care to low-income families of all races.
And, if a federally funded medical coverage program could make such an impact, even with a limited reach defined by economic status, imagine what could happen if all families could protect their children with an affordable health insurance policy that never went away, and always applied to the bumps, bruises, and sicknesses that come with childhood.
Hopefully, as legislation continues to evolve and reflect the public's need for better coverage, one day soon there won't be a "weekly health disparities report" for Kaiser to run at all.
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