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Radiocast: Health Insurance Gaps for America’s
Kids
Rand: This is Healthcare 411: Information for better health. More than 2
million kids in the U.S. lack health insurance coverage even though at least one
of their parents is insured. And, surprisingly, this issue affects not only
low-income kids but also middle-income families. Health care researcher Dr.
Jennifer DeVoe of the Oregon Health & Science University says these gaps are a
serious issue.
Dr. DeVoe: We found that among the children with a parent who was insured
all year, children from the middle-income families had a 56 percent greater
chance of being uninsured for at least six months of the year compared with the
high-income children. These findings are telling us that many parents cannot
afford to purchase health insurance for their children, and then these children,
because of their lack of health insurance coverage, may not be getting access to
preventive care such as regular checkups.
Rand: To find out more about free or low-cost health insurance for
children at
insurekidsnow.gov. Healthcare 411 is produced by AHRQ, the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services. I’m Rand Gardner for Healthcare 411.
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