Expanding insurance coverage will help youngsters in the age group of 18-25 suffering from asthma receive proper treatment, a latest research by Harvard Medical School stated.
The researchers, in their study, found that losing health insurance was one of the main reasons of failing patterns of health management. Lack of adult supervision and leaving school were other social factors that contributed to poor health management.
"This study suggests that expanding insurance coverage will help many young adults with asthma receive the care that they need," said lead study author Kao-Ping Chua, a staff physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital.
But, the study also suggests giving attention to other social factors for poor health management, said J Michael McWilliams, senior study author and HMS assistant professor of health care policy and medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Aside from the lack of financial protection, uninsurance poses fewer health risks to young adults than for older adults because they are generally healthy," McWilliams said.
Data from the years 1999 to 2009 was collected from Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for the research and samples of 2,485 people aged between 14 and 25 studied. They looked at how a person, depending on his age, seeks a regular care provider and visits him, uses asthma medications, and visits the emergency room.
The researchers found that youngsters below 18 often used primary care and preventive measures; whereas those above 18 used the emergency room regularly and faced problems of medical care because of cost. The reason behind this was losing insurance and increase in the healthcare expenses.
The research showed that losing insurance was responsible for 32 percent decrease in use of primary care and 47 to 61 percent increase in cost-related access problems.
According to the Affordable Care Act health reform law, youngsters with parents having private insurance are qualified to remain covered under their parents' policies until they are 26. But, it does not benefit the people belonging to low-income groups who generally have no insurance and are dependent on state help.
"We may continue to see particularly poor asthma care for many young adults in states that don't expand their Medicaid programs," McWilliams said.
For researchers, increasing insurance coverage is not the only solution. Health professionals should offer help to children and youngsters with chronic illnesses like asthma. "Young people with asthma need to work with their care providers to create transition plans from pediatric to adult care that take into account their medical and social history," Chua said.
