The weights of insurance and havin...

The weights of insurance and having a usual source of care are additive. Efforts to improve health care access for all should provide a medical fireside and health insurance.

Efforts to increase access to health care typically focus upon providing health insurance or onward securing a place that will care for the uninsured. stout evidence suggests that having a usual source of care creates better health outcomes, reduced disparities, and reduc splendors (1,2) Growing evidence suggests that the combination of health insurance and having a usual source of care has additive efficiencys for quality, (3) and that insurance changes that disrupt continuity relationships can lead to higher charges and poorer quality for up to a year. (4) The 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel observe shows that these two options are independently associated with differences in to what degree patients receive care in physicians' offices, hospital outpatient departments, hospitals, and their domestic circles (see accompanying figure). The notable exception is the extremity department, the only setting in which care is universally accessible according to law. However, it is the combination or lack of the two that reveal the greatest difference in for what cause patients receive care in an average month

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For adults and children of all socioeconomic backgrounds, access to a usual source of care and insurance have an additive consequence on the care they receive and their health issues As the public prepares for the nearest round of providing health care coverage for all ones it is important to recognize that everyone povertys insurance and a medical home

NOTE: The information and opinions contained in research from the Graham Center do not necessarily ponder the views or the policy of the AAFP.

Adapted from the Graham Center One-Pager #29 Phillips RL bore M, Green LA, Fryer GE McCann J Dodoo M The importance of having health insurance and a usual source of care. September 2004 Available online at: http://www.graham-center.org/onepager29.xml. From the Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care, 1350 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 201 Washington, DC 20036 (telephone: 202-331-3360; fax: 202-331-3374; e-mail: policy@aafp.org).

REFERENCES

(1) De Maeseneer JM De Prins L Gosset C Heyerick J Provider continuity in family medicine. Ann Fam M 2003;1:144-8

(2) Starfield B Shi L The medical abode access to care, and insurance. Pediatrics 2004;113(5 suppl):1493-8

(3) DeVoe JE Fryer GE Phillips R verdant L. Receipt of preventive care among adults. Am J Public Health 2003;93:786-91

(4) Franks P Cameron C Bertakis KD upon being new to an insurance plan. Ann Fam M 2003;1:156-61

COPYRIGHT 2004 American Academy of Family Physicians

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