Defining underinsurance among children with special health care needs: a Virginia sample.

Objectives: The study sought to: 1) examine the national Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) survey to determine whether there are items that can serve to operationalize alternative definitions of underinsurance; 2) construct definitions from the survey items that are consistent with Structural and Economic definitions of underinsurance and devise an algorithm for determining underinsurance for each; and 3) compare these two underinsurance definitions with the Maternal and Child Health definition of inadequate insurance, a definition that takes an Attitudinal approach to the construct.

Methods: Analyses included Virginia children who were insured throughout the survey period. Survey items from the national CSHCN survey were examined to identify items related to underinsurance.