Study Finds Erosion of Access to Care Among Working-Age Adults With Chronic Health Conditions

"Eroding Access Among Nonelderly Adults With Chronic Conditions: Ten Years of Change," Health Affairs: According to the Web exclusive, by Catherine Hoffman and Karyn Schwartz of the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, the number of working-age adults with a major chronic health condition increased 25% between 1997 and 2006. For the study, Hoffman and Schwartz analyzed 10 years of data using access to care measures from the National Health Interview Survey for nonelderly adults who have at least one of seven major chronic conditions. The researchers also found that while large differences in access to care between uninsured and insured adults with chronic conditions existed in 1997, the insurance divide grew even wider by 2006 (Hoffman/Schwartz, Kaiser Family Foundation release, 7/22).