ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE

This indicator reports the number and percent of children under 18 years old who are uninsured; the number and percent who do not have a usual source of care; and those who experienced delayed care or did not receive medical care or prescription medications.

Improving health care access for all children helps to improve prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of health problems. Children with health insurance are more likely to get timely prescription medications and medical or mental health care when needed; are more likely to get preventive care (including immunizations, dental care and vision screenings); and, overall, have better health outcomes.

Findings

• In 2014, 5.0% of children were uninsured, representing a drop in uninsured rates by more than half since 2008 (10.9%).

• Orange County went from having a higher rate of uninsured children in 2008 (10.9%) than California (10.0%) and the United States (9.3%), to having a lower rate than both in 2014.

• Hispanic children continue to have higher uninsured rates than other racial/ethnic groups, with 6.8% of Hispanic children uninsured in 2014, compared with Other races (4.5%), Asian (3.7%) and White (3.0%) groups. However, this gap is shrinking.

• Uninsured rates of very young children (0-5 years old) have dropped by two-thirds, from 8.9% in 2009 to 3.2% in 2014. Similarly, rates of uninsured 6-17 year olds have dropped by nearly half, from 11.2% in 2009 to 5.9% in 2014.

• In addition, the 2014 California Health Interview Survey (pooled estimate for 2011 through 2014) reveals:

– An estimated 59,000 (7.7%) Orange County children annually did not have a usual source of care to go to when they were sick or needed health advice.

– Approximately 24,750 children (3.3%) experienced a delay or lack of medical care and 31,250 children (4.1%) experienced a delay or lack of needed prescription medications.

– Most children who had access to a usual source of care went to a doctor’s office (71.6%), while 19.6% went to a clinic or community hospital. The proportion of children who regularly visited an Emergency Department, urgent care center or other location is unknown.1