Recommended preventive care can reduce chronically ill children’s need for intensive or specialized care and reduce unmet needs. In New York State Medicaid managed care, and other care systems, utilization of preventive services has been less than ideal. This study investigated the comparability of rates for chronically ill and healthier children.
- Existence of chronic conditions did not adversely impact the ability of children to access and utilize recommended preventive care through Medicaid managed care.
- Generally, children with minor and significant chronic conditions received care at levels comparable or 3% to 17% higher than healthy and acutely ill children
Author Affiliations: From New York State Department of Health, Office of Health Insurance Programs (LSM, AMS, PJR, FG), Albany, NY.
Funding Source: None.
Author Disclosures: Dr Gesten reports participating in 2 child health measurement grants from the Federal Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The other authors (LSM, AMS, PJR) report no relationship or financial interest with any entity
Authorship Information: Concept and design (AMS, PJR, FG); acquisition of data (LSM); analysis and interpretation of data (LSM); drafting of the manuscript (LSM, AMS, PJR); critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content (AMS, PJR, FG); statistical analysis (LSM); and supervision (AMS, PJR, FG).
Address correspondence to: Laura S. Morris, MS, New York State Department of Health, Office of Health Insurance Programs, Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower, Room 1938, Albany, NY 12237. E-mail: lxm26@health.state. ny.us.
1. McPherson M, Arango P, Fox H, et al. A new definition of children with special health care needs. Pediatrics. 1998;102(1, pt 1):137-140.
2. van der Lee JH, Mokkink LB, Grootenhuis MA, Heymans HS, Offringa M. Definitions and measurement of chronic health conditions in childhood: a systematic review. JAMA. 2007;297(24):2741-2751.
3. US Department of Health and Human Services. The national survey of children with special health care needs chartbook 2005–2006. http:// mchb.hrsa.gov/cshcn05/SD/newyork.htm. Published 2008. Accessed December 13, 2010.
4. Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative. 2007 National survey of children’s health. www.nschdata.org. Accessed February 25, 2010.
5. Van Cleave J, Davis MM. Preventive care utilization among children with and without special health care needs: associations with unmet need. Ambul Pediatr. 2008;8(5):305-311.
6. Neff JM, Sharp VL, Muldoon J, Graham J, Myers K. Profile of medical charges for children by health status group and severity level in a Washington state health plan. Health Serv Res. 2004;39(1):73-89.
7. Houtrow AJ, Kim SE, Newacheck PW. Health care utilization, access, and expenditures for infants and young CSHCN. Infants Young Child. 2008;21(2):149-159.
8. Newacheck PW, Strickland B, Shonkoff JP, et al. An epidemiologic profile of children with special health care needs. Pediatrics. 1998; 102(1, pt 1):117-123.
9. Newacheck PW, Kim SE. A national profile of health care utilization and expenditures for children with special health care needs [published correction appears in Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159(4): 318]. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159(1):10-17.
10. Committee on Practice and Ambulatory Medicine and Bright Futures Steering Committee. Recommendations for preventive pediatric health care. Pediatrics. 2007;120:1376.
11. Perrin JM. Prevention and chronic health conditions among children and adolescents. Ambul Pediatr. 2008;8(5):271-272.
12. Tom JO, Tseng CW, Davis J, Solomon C, Zhou C, Mangione-Smith R. Missed well-child care visits, low continuity of care, and risk of ambulatory care-sensitive hospitalizations in young children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164(11):1052-1058.
13. Van Cleave J, Heisler M, Devries JM, Joiner TA, Davis MM. Discussion of illness during well-child visits with parents of children with and without special health care needs. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2007;161(12):1170-1175.
14. Mitchell JM, Gaskin DJ. Receipt of preventive dental care among special-needs children enrolled in Medicaid: a crisis in need of attention. J Health Polit Policy Law. 2008;33(5):883-905.
15. Honberg LE, Kogan MD, Allen D, Strickland BB, Newacheck PW. Progress in ensuring adequate health insurance for children with special health care needs. Pediatrics. 2009;124(5):1273-1280.
16. Jeffrey AE, Newacheck PW. Role of Insurance for children with special health care needs: a synthesis of the evidence. Pediatrics. 2006; 118(4):e1027-e1038.
17. Kogan MD, Newacheck PW, Honberg L, Strickland B. Association between underinsurance and access to care among children with special health care needs in the United States. Pediatrics. 2005;116(5): 1162-1169.
18. Satchell M, Pati S. Insurance gaps among vulnerable children in the United States, 1999-2001. Pediatrics. 2005;116(5):1155-1161.
19. Newacheck PW, Houtrow AJ, Romm DL, et al. The future of health insurance for children with special health care needs. Pediatrics. 2009; 123(5):e940-e947.
20. New York State Department of Health. New York State 2009 Managed Care Plan Performance. New York: New York State Department of Health; 2009.
21. O’Connor KS, Bramlett MD. Vaccination coverage by special health care needs status in young children. Pediatrics. 2008;121(4):e768-e774.
22. Neff JM, Sharp VL, Muldoon J, Graham J, Popalisky J, Gay JC. Identifying and classifying children with chronic conditions using administrative data with the clinical risk group classification system. Ambul Pediatr. 2002;2(1):71-79.
23. Huang IC, Thompson LA, Chi YY, et al. The linkage between pediatric quality of life and health conditions: establishing clinically meaningful cutoff scores for the PedsQL. Value Health. 2009;12(5):773-781.
24. Hughes JS, Averill RF, Eisenhandler J, et al. Clinical Risk Groups (CRGs): a classification system for risk-adjusted capitation-based payment and health care management. Med Care. 2004;42(1):81-90.
25. Rolnick SJ, Flores SK, Paulsen KJ, Thorson S. Identification of children with special health care needs within a managed care setting. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157(3):273-278.
26. New York State Department of Health. 2008 Quality Assurance Reporting Requirements Technical Specifications Manual (2008 QARR/ HEDIS® 2009). New York: New York State Department of Health; 2009.
27. New York State Department of Health. About eQARR 2008. http://www.nyhealth.gov/health_care/managed_care/reports/eqarr/2008/ about.htm. Published December 2008. Accessed July 26, 2010.
28. National Committee for Quality Assurance. HEDIS 2009 Volume 2: Technical Specifications. Washington, DC: 2008.
29. Lykens KA, Fulda KG, Bae S, Singh K. Differences in risk factors for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) receiving needed specialty care by socioeconomic status. BMC Pediatr. 2009;9:48.
30. Zhang J, Yu KF. What’s the relative risk? a method of correcting the odds ratio in cohort studies of common outcomes. JAMA. 1998;280(19): 1690-1691.
31. Ringeisen H, Casanueva C, Urato M, Cross T. Special health care needs among children in the child welfare system. Pediatrics. 2008;122(1): e232-e241.
32. van Dyck PC, Kogan MD, McPherson MG, Weissman GR, Newacheck PW. Prevalence and characteristics of children with special health care needs. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158(9):884-890.
33. Mangione-Smith R, DeCristofaro AH, Setodji CM, et al. The quality of ambulatory care delivered to children in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(15):1515-1523.
34. Kronick R, Gilmer T, Dreyfus T, Lee, L. Improving health-based payment for Medicaid beneficiaries: CDPS. Health Care Financ Rev. 2000; 21(3):29-64.








