Study: Kids Get Inadequate Health Care

Now that Congress has said it is important to give kids health insurance paid for by tax dollars, the AP released this startling result. It says that kids don't get very good care when they go to the doctor. The problem is that most of these kids in the study already had insurance. So the conclusion would be that whether or not kids have insurance, the care they receive is not good. It is a good article from the AP. Enjoy the article.

By LINDA A. JOHNSON

As Washington debates children's health insurance, a startling study finds that kids who regularly see doctors get the right care less than half the time — whether it's preschool shots or chlamydia tests for teen girls.

The findings, from the first comprehensive look at children's health care quality, are particularly troubling because nearly all the 1,536 children in the nationwide study had insurance.

Eight-two percent were covered by private insurance. Three-quarters were white, and all lived in or near large or midsized cities.

Two experts called the findings "shocking." Others said minority children, those with more-restrictive government insurance, and the millions with no insurance at all certainly fare even worse.

They said the results highlight the importance of the debate over the proposed expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which Congress approved and President Bush vetoed. A vote to override the veto is set for next week.

The study, by the Seattle Children's Hospital Research Institute and the nonprofit Rand Corp. research group, concludes that overall, doctors gave children the appropriate outpatient medical care only 47 percent of the time.

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