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Health care access worse for young adults with asthma
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Young adults who have asthma are less likely than adolescents to have a primary source of health care, and this may be due partially to health insurance loss, according to study findings published online.
Kao-Ping Chua, MD, of Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital, and colleagues reported on data they used from the 1999 to 2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey that compared access to health care among two different age groups — specifically, patients with asthma who were aged 4 to 17 years and 19 to 25 years.
Kao-Ping Chua
Chua and colleagues reported that insurance coverage was a strong predictor of using primary care for the young adults, and those in this age group was less likely than adolescents to have a primary health care provider or fill prescriptions for asthma medications.
Adjusting for differences in insurance coverage reduced differences in usual source of care and primary care use by 32.4% to 38%. However, the difference in ED use was reduced only by 10.3%, according to the study findings.
The researchers said as the Affordable Care Act is implemented in the coming year, the number of uninsured young adults will likely fall dramatically.
“This study suggests that expanding insurance coverage will help many young adults with asthma receive the care that they need,” Chua told Infectious Diseases in Children. “However, it also points to the importance of addressing other socially mediated factors in this population.”
Disclosure: Chua reports no relevant financial disclosures.
Kao-Ping Chua, MD, can be reached at kao-ping.chua@childrens.harvard.edu.
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