What are the barriers to children in accessing health-care services in the United States?

What are the sources of pediatric primary care in the United States? Are these sources sufficient for providing health-care services to the pediatric population? Why or why not?

The pediatric population is offered several different resources of primary care.  These resources include: community and school-based health centers, pediatricians, family practice/primary care clinicians, nurse practitioners, clinics, and the health department (Spencer et al, 2018).  Various programs are available to assist families in gaining access to primary care, preventative care guidelines/schedules, insurance, supplemental nutrition, health care referrals, and nutritional education.  State and federally funded programs/resources include: Medicaid, Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Bright Futures (Health Resources & Services Administration, 2021).  Despite the number of resources made available for this population, some children’s health care needs are still not being met.  The Children’s Health Fund estimates that nearly 28% of children in the United States still possess unmet healthcare needs, especially those requiring specialty care such as, pediatric endocrinology or pediatric cardiology (PNHP, 2016).

Are there certain pediatric populations that lack access to health-care services? Why?

The pediatric population residing in underserved, rural regions, tend to lack access to health-care services due to a limitation of services.  Approximately 20 percent of Americans reside in rural areas, but hardly one-tenth of physicians practice in these areas (Nielsen et al., 2017).  This ratio is projected to get worse as the federal government reports there will be an estimated deficiency of over 20,000 primary care providers in rural regions (Nielsen et al., 2017).

What are the barriers to children in accessing health-care services in the United States? Why do these barriers exist? 

Sadly, many children are faced with numerous barriers in accessing health-care services in the United States.  These barriers include financial and non-financial barriers.  Financial barriers stem from high copays, high deductibles, high-priced prescription drugs, families reporting failure or difficulty to pay medical bills, and providers declining certain forms of insurance (PNHP, 2016). Non-financial barriers encompass informational and geographical barriers.  Informational and geographical barriers are due to the complexity of information on accessing healthcare and obtaining coverage, parents’ limited proficiency in speaking English, health illiteracy, lack of transportation, and lack of healthcare providers per capita in rural and low-income regions (PNHP, 2016).  These barriers can create a delay in seeking care, leading to more complex illnesses and decreased quality of life.

References

Health Resources & Services Administration. (2021). Maternal and child health. Retrieved from https://mchb.hrsa.gov/maternal-child-health-topics/child-health/bright-futures.html

Nielsen, M., D’Agostino, D., & Gregory, P. (2017). Addressing Rural Health Challenges Head On. Missouri medicine, 114(5), 363–366.

PNHP. (2016). Unfinished business: More than 20 million children in u.s. still lack sufficient access to essential health care.  Retrieved from https://pnhp.org/news/20-million-children-lack-sufficient-access-to-health-care

Spencer, D. L., McManus, M., Call, K. T., Turner, J., Harwood, C., White, P., & Alarcon, G. (2018). Health Care Coverage and Access Among Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults, 2010-2016: Implications for Future Health Reforms. The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 62(6), 667–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.12.012