The Irony of Medicaid Reimbursement for Children’s Services: A case study of asthma

Nearly 50% of all children’s healthcare is covered by either Medicaid or other state funded plans such as SCHIP. According to Kaiser Family Foundation Report, average Medicaid reimbursement rates for equivalent services are only 59% of Medicare. Is children’s health worth only 59% of a retiree? Any amount spent on children is an investment in to our future. Death from asthma is completely preventable and no child should die of asthma. In Illinois, asthma related death is four times national average. Every patient who unfortunately died from asthma that I have come across had Medicaid insurance. According to this study, children with asthma who had Medicaid insurance were about 50% more likely to require mechanical ventilation (breathing support with a machine) when they had an asthma attack compared to non-Medicaid children. Need for mechanical ventilation is a known risk factor for dying from future asthma attacks. Death from asthma is just a tip of the iceberg of complications from asthma. What many people do not recognize is that many of those surviving children with asthma go on to develop COPD in their middle ages even without smoking. Sure they become eligible for Medicare at some stage, and we the tax payers are happy to foot the enormous bill for their care when they have developed a preventable complication from a chronic disease.

Children are the future of our country. But why is this disparity? Well, children cannot vote.