kidsdata advisory

Health Care System for Chronically Ill Children in California Lags Behind Many States, New Study Shows

California lags behind a majority of states when it comes to ensuring that children with special health care needs receive adequate health and social services, according to a study released Jan. 16 by the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health. The state ranks in the bottom six states on key health indicators such as access to pediatric specialists and coordination of care.

The study, prepared by the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative at Oregon Health and Science University, analyzes California’s latest data from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs. See the data >>

Among the Key Findings:

• An estimated one in 10 — approximately one million — California children under age 18 has a special health care need, ranging from mild to life-threatening.
  
  
• More than four in five children with special health care needs in California do not receive care that meets federal minimum quality standards.
  
  
• Among the estimated 270,000 children with special health care needs in California with Medi-Cal or other public insurance coverage, only 6 percent receive health care that meets the federal quality standards. California ranks last in the nation on this measure, tied with Nevada.
  

• California ranks 50th in the nation on the percentage of children with special health care needs who have problems getting needed referrals for specialty care.
  

• Families of children with special health care needs in California are more likely than families in all other states to cut back or stop working due to their child’s condition.
  

• California ranks last in the nation on the percentage of children with special health care needs whose families experience shared decision making with health care providers.
  

• Although most California children with special health care needs are insured, just 59% of those who are insured have consistent and adequate health insurance coverage to meet their health needs.
  

Children are considered to have special health care needs if they have a chronic health problem and use more health care services than typical children. These children may have asthma or diabetes, conditions that can be controlled with medication and lifestyle changes, or be dependent on sophisticated medical equipment to get through each day. They account for more than 40 percent of all health care costs among children nationwide, despite making up only about 16 percent of the U.S. child population.

Low-income families, children from certain ethnic/racial groups, and children with the most complex needs usually have the most difficulty accessing medical care and necessary community services.  

See the data >> 

Helpful Links

• Printable Fact Sheet on Children with Special Health Care Needs in California
  
  
• View Summaries of Key Topics Related to Children with Special Health Care Needs:
  Access to Care | Quality of Care | Insurance Coverage | Impact on Children & Families | Demographics
  

• Find Websites, Research and Reports related to children with special health care needs.

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New study shows health care system for chronically ill children in California lags behind many states. See the report>>