HEALTH CARE FINANCING FOR CSHCN

According to the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, nearly two-thirds (64.7 percent) of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have private or employment-based coverage, 21.7 percent had public coverage, 8.1 percent had both, and 5.2 percent reported having no insurance at the time of the interview.

However, many of the families interviewed reported that their children’s coverage was not adequate to meet their needs. Twelve percent said that their plan did not usually or always allow their children to see the providers they needed; 14.5 percent said their benefits did not meet their children’s needs; and 28.4 percent reported that the costs not covered by the plan were not reasonable. In all, one-third of parents of CSHCN reported that their coverage did not usually or always meet at least one of these criteria.

[d]

[d]