Project Investigators:
Nancy Southerland, Bob Atkins and Dan Hart

Summary

The association of family income with child health is well known. In comparison to children from affluent families, low-income children are more likely to suffer a variety of chronic and sub-acute health problems. These include dental decay, asthma, earaches, vision deficiencies, and spotty immunizations. These problems interfere with healthy development.

ONe source of the health disparities between children from poor an affluent families may be access to healthcare. The families of poor children often lack both health insurance ana the money to pay for medical care. Consequently, these families traditionally have been unable to schedule routine visits to doctors', dentists', an optometrists/ offices, and have been unable to purchase medication and eyeglasses when these are prescribed.

The State of New Jersey has recently begun a new program, called FamilyCare, which offers no- or low-cost insurance to low-income families. The question we seek to answer in this report is whether the provision of this insurance affects healthcare access for children in poor families. To answer the question, we interviewed parents who had recently enrolled in the FamilyCare program, and asked questions about how access for their children to healthcare has changed since acquiring health insurance.

Our findings demonstrate that the FamilyCare Health Insurance Program dramatically improves access to healthcare. Parents who are provided with the necessary resources - health insurance - prove to be effective managers of their children's healthcare.

For more information, please email Dr. Dan Hart, Department of Psychology, Rutgers-Camden.

The Johnson and Johnson Family of Companies is providing support for three major child health initiatives, including this study of the Impact of NJ Kidcare on Healthcare Services Utilization in Camden.