Study: Uninsured children lack health care

TAMPA, Fla., March 16 (UPI) -- The gap in healthcare quality is widening between uninsured children and those insured by public programs like Medicare, U.S. researchers report.

University of South Florida researchers also found U.S. healthcare is improving for children who are insured by these programs, however.

The proportion of uninsured children who made at least one office visit to a physician or healthcare practitioner dropped from 52 percent in 1987 to 43 percent in 1999. Total spending on children's healthcare decreased while expenses increased, the researchers said.

"Despite our gains in insuring more children, we're spending less of our overall healthcare dollars on children," said team leader Lisa Simpson of the USF College of Medicine.

Healthcare access appears to be better overall, with the number of uninsured children decreased from 10.4 percent in 1996 to 7.7 percent in 1999.

The researchers analyzed two national databases of insurance coverage, perceived healthcare quality and healthcare expenses for U.S. children ages 17 and younger from 1987 through 2001.