Health care of poverty and nonpoverty children in Iowa

Responses to a survey of 637 Iowa children under age six years from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) households was conducted through telephone interviews with parents and compared to a second sample of children in 760 randomly sampled households. Utilization of health services for children in the AFDC sample was similar to that of nonpoverty children and superior to that of other poverty children. Irrespective of Medicaid coverage, poverty children's health care differed from that of nonpoverty children in the following ways: less well care from a private practice or pediatrician, seeing the same health professional at each well visit less often, receiving immunizations at the same place as source of well care, examination by a physician at the most recent well visit, sick care at the same place as well care.