Children in Foster Care: Challenges in Meeting Their Health Care Needs Through Medicaid

Children in foster care are more likely to have a mental health or substance abuse condition than other Medicaid-enrolled children, according to a policy brief from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Although children in foster care may suffer physical, emotional, or developmental problems because of abuse or neglect, little is known about the adequacy of the health care services they receive. They are also less likely to have continuous, year-round health insurance coverage, which previous research has noted as an important factor in access to care.

Researchers used Medicaid claims records from California, Florida, and Pennsylvania to clarify the health care picture for these children, who were compared with children who received adoption assistance, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) over a two-year period in the mid-1990s.