The Impact of Level of Disability, SES, and Access to Health Insurance on Health-Related Outcomes for Children with Special Health Care Needs

Julia A. Drew, Brown University

This study uses data from a nationally representative survey on children with special health care needs (CSHCN) to assess the impact of level of disability, socioeconomic status (SES), and access to and type of health insurance on health-related outcomes for CSHCN. Cross-tabulations between independent variables and health-related outcomes were used to produce initial analyzes. A two-step multinomial logistic regression will be employed to model the impact of level of disability; SES; and access to and type of health insurance on outcomes. Initial analyzes indicate that level of child disability has implications for the number of school days missed and doctor visits made, and the receipt of needed health services. Initial analyzes suggest CSHCN with lower SES are more likely to miss school due to sickness, but less likely to visit the doctor than CSHCN with higher SES. Preliminary findings also denote that health outcomes vary with the type of insurance.