ST. LOUIS, Mo. – A new study by social work professors at Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows out-of-pocket expenses for therapies, rehabilitation, specialty medical care and other services for special-needs children vary dramatically for families in different states.
Massachusetts has the lowest average costs in the state, $562 per year, while Georgia had the highest out-of-pocket costs, $972. Rhode Island ranked third-lowest, at $668.
The study, published in the current issue of the journal Pediatrics, also ranked states by the percentage of families that had extra out-of-pocket costs. By that measure, Michigan ranked lowest, at 86.1 percent, Massachusetts ranked fifth-lowest, at 87.7 percent, and Rhode Island ranked 17th, at 90 percent. Mississippi had the biggest share with extra costs, 94.2 percent.
Study co-authors Paul T. Shattuck, of Washington University, and Susan L. Parish, of the University of North Carolina, noted that wealthier states tend to have a smaller proportion of families with any financial burden and a lower average extra cost per child.
“This study shows that programs like Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) may not be going far enough to help families with children with special needs,” Shattuck said in a news release. “We need to revisit how to give appropriate support to poorer states where families, on average, have less income but are experiencing greater financial burden compared with families of similar means in wealthier states.”
The study was based on a national telephone survey of households with children who have special health care needs, including a representative sample from each state and the District of Columbia. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development provided partial financial support.
The full state rankings are available at news-info.wustl.edu/news/page/normal/11870.html.
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