Tuesday, 7 February 2006
Children With Medicaid More Likely To Be Obese
Children with Medicaid are almost 6 times more likely to undergo treatment for severe obesity problems than kids who are covered through private insurance, reports The Star Ledger (via Blue Cross Blue Shield).
1,115 Medicaid children out of every 100,000 received obesity treatment. Only 195 privately insured children out of every 100,000 received similar treatment.
Because the study data depended on locating codes in doctor’s records, it’s likely more Medicaid and privately insured children suffer from obesity but were not coded and therefore skipped detection.
Reasons given for the disparity include:
- Medicaid children are more likely to have high-calorie diets
- Often their conditions go untreated until they show signs of serious illness.
For the full story, visit The Star Ledger online.
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Posted by at 7:55 AM in Health Insurance
