Frequently Asked Questions
Acknowledgements

An estimated 12.8% of children and youth in the United States – over 9 million children and youth – have chronic illnesses, physical or sensory disabilities, or developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions. More than 20% of US families have one or more children with special health care needs.

Federal legislation calls for every state to implement systems of care for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). There is much variability across states in how federal policy is put into practice, however, and how the components of care are funded. Health care financing, then, while complex, offers a certain amount of room for creativity and experimentation at the state level.

To support the spread of innovative financing strategies among states, the Catalyst Center has launched the online State-at-a-Glance Chartbook on Coverage and Financing for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs.

The online Chartbook offers data on selected indicators on key aspects of health care coverage and financing, from every state plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Data are drawn from a wide range of standardized national sources, along with surveys and interviews with key informants in each state.

It also contains a database of more than 100 of the most interesting state practices: those that take on tough financing problems in new ways or add new twists to existing programs. Users can search for state practices by service or target population (“Paying for X“), by financing strategy (“Strategic Spending“), or by one of four broad financing objectives (“Explore the Four“):

• Covering More Kids, or increasing the percentage of children covered by health insurance;
• Closing Benefit Gaps, or reducing underinsurance, which occurs when a family has health insurance but it doesn’t cover all of the services their child needs;
• Paying for Added Services, or improving coverage for services that are frequently excluded; and
• Building Capacity, or enhancing funding for the health infrastructure that underlies clinical care of children and youth.

The Chartbook was developed by the Catalyst Center (see sidebar) with support from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Services and Resources Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.