The study found that children who are on public assistance have a much higher chance of being refused a doctor's appointment compared to children who held private insurance. Thinking back to my health disparities class in grad school this is something we discussed a great deal, especially with mental health and dental services. During that semester I believe that there were only one or two dentists in DC that actually took government insurance.
There are currently 37 million children being covered by CHIP and Medicaid. This leaves a huge number of children at risk of not being able to see a health care provider when they may need it most. States also differ in requirements for children to see specialty care doctors. For instance, in PA children first have to see their PCP before they can get a referral to a specialty care doctor.
Many are reluctant to take on patients with government insurance because of reimbursement rates which is a well known problem. Some see this population as being more likely NOT to show up for their appointment than someone who has private insurance. In some instances this is true, but for many transportation (especially when someone has to bring along several children) remains one of the biggest barriers in gaining access to health care. There are also a different set of priorities where spending money on food and/or a house may be more important than seeing a doctor for a routine checkup or a minor health problem. This is definitely something we see with the adults in our clinics. Unfortunately by the time we do get many of these adults, their disease(s) has progressed to a point that primary prevention will no longer be an option.
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