Characterizing Energy Insecurity: Utility Shut-Off Protection Requests in Pediatric Primary Care

Household energy insecurity is increasingly recognized as an important social determinant of health, affecting over a third of American households. Utility shut-off protection letters from medical providers are an important but imperfect tool to address acute energy insecurity, and their use has not yet been explored in the pediatric literature.

We aimed to characterize utility shut-off protection letter requests in a pediatric primary care population and to identify potential predictors of utility letter requests.

This was a retrospective, case-control study utilizing secondary data from electronic health records and administrative data from a large, hospital-based primary care clinic located in Boston, Massachusetts.

During 2018 and 2019, the families of 704 patients made 1,694 utility letter requests; of those, 57% made a repeat letter request. In multivariable analysis between cases ( n = 704) and controls ( n = 704), public insurance, younger age, Black race or Hispanic ethnicity, and attending a well-child visit were positively associated with utility letter requests. A negative association was found with lower medical complexity and non-English preferred language.

Utility shut-off protection letters were requested more frequently by families with public insurance and those with Black and Hispanic children, consistent with national studies of energy insecurity. Less frequent letter requests by non-English speaking families raise concerns for inequitable access to letters, and the finding of frequent repeat requests underscores the often-chronic nature of energy insecurity. These findings highlight the need for more equitable and sustainable approaches to energy insecurity within pediatric primary care and exploration of policy interventions, such as common applications for Medicaid and energy assistance programs, to support those at high risk for energy insecurity.