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Racialized economic segregation and potentially preventable hospitalizations among Medicaid/ CHIP‐enrolled children
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Racialized economic segregation and potentially preventable hospitalizations among Medicaid/ CHIP‐enrolled children

Laura Barrie Smith, Claire O'Brien, Genevieve M. Kenney, Loni Philip Tabb, Alaisha Verdeflor, Keqin Wei, Victoria Lynch and Timothy Waidmann
Health services research, v 58(3), pp 599-611
Jun 2023
PMID: 36527452
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14120View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Maybe Open Access (Publisher Bronze) Restricted

Abstract

Objective To examine geographic variation in preventable hospitalizations among Medicaid/CHIP-enrolled children and to test the association between preventable hospitalizations and a novel measure of racialized economic segregation, which captures residential segregation within ZIP codes based on race and income simultaneously. Data Sources We supplement claims and enrollment data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) representing over 12 million Medicaid/CHIP enrollees in 24 states with data from the Public Health Disparities Geocoding Project measuring racialized economic segregation. Study Design We measure preventable hospitalizations by ZIP code among children. We use logistic regression to estimate the association between ZIP code-level measures of racialized economic segregation and preventable hospitalizations, controlling for sex, age, rurality, eligibility group, managed care plan type, and state. Data Extraction Methods We include children ages 0–17 continuously enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP throughout 2018. We use validated algorithms to identify preventable hospitalizations, which account for characteristics of the pediatric population and exclude children with certain underlying conditions. Principal Findings Preventable hospitalizations vary substantially across ZIP codes, and a quarter of ZIP codes have rates exceeding 150 hospitalizations per 100,000 Medicaid-enrolled children per year. Preventable hospitalization rates vary significantly by level of racialized economic segregation: children living in the ZIP codes that have the highest concentration of low-income, non-Hispanic Black residents have adjusted rates of 181 per 100,000 children, compared to 110 per 100,000 for children in ZIP codes that have the highest concentration of high-income, non-Hispanic white residents (p < 0.01). This pattern is driven by asthma-related preventable hospitalizations. Conclusions Medicaid-enrolled children's risk of preventable hospitalizations depends on where they live, and children in economically and racially segregated neighborhoods—specifically those with higher concentrations of low-income, non-Hispanic Black residents—are at particularly high risk. It will be important to identify and implement Medicaid/CHIP and other policies that increase access to high-quality preventive care and that address structural drivers of children's health inequities.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being
#10 Reduced Inequalities

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
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