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The impact of gaps in health insurance coverage on immunization status for young children

Lynn A Blewett1, Gestur Davidson, Matthew D Bramlett

  • 1Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, 420 Delaware Street S.E., MMC 729, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0392, USA.

Health Services Research
|June 5, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Children with continuous public health insurance were more likely to be up-to-date on immunizations. Gaps in private insurance were linked to lower immunization rates, challenging its perceived superiority.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Health Services Research
  • Immunization Policy

Background:

  • Understanding health insurance's role in child immunization is crucial for public health.
  • Previous assumptions favored private insurance as superior for maintaining up-to-date (UTD) immunization status.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how continuous versus intermittent public and private health insurance affects immunization status in young children.
  • To compare the effectiveness of different insurance types in ensuring children receive recommended vaccines.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NS-CSHCN) and the 2000-2002 National Immunization Survey (NIS).
  • Linked insurance data with immunization records for 8,861 children aged 19-35 months without special health care needs.
  • Employed logistic regression to estimate adjusted rates of UTD immunization status for multiple vaccine series.

Main Results:

  • Children with full-year public insurance were more likely to be UTD on two key vaccine series compared to those with full-year private insurance.
  • Children with part-year private insurance coverage showed significantly lower UTD rates for three out of ten vaccines/series than those with full-year private coverage.

Conclusions:

  • Gaps in private health insurance coverage raise concerns regarding children's access to essential immunizations.
  • The study challenges the notion that private insurance is consistently superior for maintaining UTD immunization status in young children.
Abstract

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