Exploring the Impact of Insurance Gaps on Healthcare Burden for Autistic Children

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between health insurance gaps, health care experience ratings, and the financial burden of self-payment for medical expenses among autistic children in the U.S. Using secondary data from the 2010-2021 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, multivariable regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between health insurance gaps and key outcomes: healthcare experience ratings over the past year and the percentage of medical expenses paid out-of-pocket. Autistic children with insurance gaps reported significantly lower satisfaction ratings for health care than autistic children without insurance gaps, with an estimated difference of -0.153 (p <.0001); the proportion of self-pay for children with insurance gaps was significantly higher compared to children without insurance gaps, with an estimated difference of 0.092 (p <.0001).. A health insurance gap significantly influences both the perceived quality of health care and the financial responsibility borne by families of autistic children. These findings underscore the need for targeted policy interventions to address differences in health care access and affordability.