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Children s health care falls short Claudia Martinez came into the Family Resource Center to pay her medical co payment with her children, nba jerseys 3 year old Leonardo Espinoza and 2 year old Tanya Espinoza. (Judith Calson Mercury News Archives)Now, researchers are reporting that the same holds true for America s children, leading them toward an unhealthy adulthood. In some cases, they fare even worse than adults. On average, children get less than half of the recommended treatment and preventive care for conditions such as asthma or fever, according to a study published in today s New England Journal of Medicine. Babies aren t getting regular height and weight checks to make sure they re growing properly. Toddlers don t receive all their recommended immunizations. Schoolchildren don t have all the medication they need to control chronic asthma. Rita Mangione Smith moncler cheval vest of the University of Washington Seattle. "This study shows that health care quality for kids is an issue in itself." Health care experts, reacting to the study, say the reasons for the problems include inadequate insurance payments for pediatric treatment and the health system s failure to focus on children. The study comes at a politically fraught time for children s health, as congressional Democratic leaders work to overturn President Bush s recent veto of a major expansion of a popular national children s health insurance program. Nearly all the children had some form of health insurance, and 82 percent of the insured children had private health coverage. In reviewing the records, researchers looked for evidence that the right kind of medical care was provided to children in a timely fashion. For example, did children with major depression begin counseling, medication or both within two weeks of diagnosis Did children whose asthma medication was changed get a follow up visit with a doctor within three weeks Did doctors test children s blood pressure before starting them on medication for attention deficit disorder In these situations moncler alpin jacket and others, the quality of care children received varied widely. In the best case, children with colds and flu received, on average, 92 percent of the recommended care. But adolescents received only about 35 percent of the recommended preventive care, such as chlamydia screenings and weight checks. The study has limitations, including a relatively small number of medical files reviewed and a lack of minority children. The medical care examined by the researchers was moncler urville delivered from 1996 to 2000, and trends in care may have changed since then. Finally, medical records were incomplete for some children. Still, Mangione Smith contended, "What you re looking at is the best case scenario. For people without insurance, the numbers would be worse." Dr. Paul Wise, a Stanford University pediatrician and health policy researcher who was not involved with the study, agreed. "The quality indicators are just so awful that even if they re off by a considerable moncler jacket for kids extent, they still hold up," Wise said. "The findings suggest that the quality of health care for children is pretty pathetic." Mangione Smith, who practices at Children s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, collaborated with researchers from the University of California Los Angeles and the Rand Corp. The study was funded by the Oakland based California HealthCare Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Spending moncler kids jackets on seniors Pediatricians and health policy experts say there are myriad reasons for why children don t always get the health care they need, even if they have good insurance and their parents are diligent about taking them to the doctor. Most of America s health care dollars are spent on adults and particularly seniors, Wise said, so programs to improve health care quality focus on them rather than on children, who tend to be healthier and less expensive to treat. "Children are cheap," Wise moncler outlet italia said. "If you add up all the health care that children get, it s basically a rounding error for Medicare." Wise and other experts also noted that pediatric care is poorly reimbursed by the government and private insurers, giving doctors an incentive to shorten visits with young patients. Some insurers also won t cover some vaccines, routine physicals or certain preventive medications for children, requiring more costly care down the line, said Dr. Lydia Tinajero Deck, a pediatrician at Children s Hospital Oakland. Care also can be fragmented among emergency rooms, urgent care clinics and a child s Moncler Down Jacket Red BRANSON regular doctor, particularly in asthma care, she said. As children progress through school, they are less likely to see a doctor for preventive care, unless they need a physical to be cleared for sports activities. There s the belief that "they re kids, they re healthy enough, they ll be fine," Tinajero Deck said. Stanford s Wise said he hopes the landmark study will sensitize lawmakers and the medical establishment to the importance of improving health care quality for children, not Moncler himalaya Down Men Jackets Blue just adults

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