Children with Special Health Care NeedsChildren with Special Health Care Needs in United StatesUnited States
Children with Special Health Care Needs
United States
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United States Value:
19.5%
Percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (2-year estimate)
Children with Special Health Care Needs in depth:
Appears In:
Children with Special Health Care Needs by State
Percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (2-year estimate)
Children with Special Health Care Needs Trends
Percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (2-year estimate)
Trend: Children with Special Health Care Needs in United States, 2022 Health Of Women And Children Report
Percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (2-year estimate)
United States
Source:
National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
View All Populations
Children with Special Health Care Needs
Trend: Children with Special Health Care Needs in United States, 2022 Health Of Women And Children Report
Percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (2-year estimate)
United States
Source:
National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
About Children with Special Health Care Needs
US Value: 19.5%
Top State(s): Hawaii: 13.2%
Bottom State(s): New Hampshire: 24.2%
Definition: Percentage of children ages 0-17 with special health care needs (2-year estimate)
Data Source and Years: National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), 2020-2021
Suggested Citation: America's Health Rankings analysis of National Survey of Children's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), United Health Foundation, AmericasHealthRankings.org, accessed 2023.
Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have or are at risk for chronic physical, developmental, behavioral or emotional conditions and require more health services than most children. Children with special health care needs may also:
- Require complex and long-term health services.
- Spend more on health care.
- Experience disparities in accessing care.
Roughly 19.4% of children in the United States — 14.1 million children — have special health care needs. In 2020, only 62.5% had adequate and continuous health insurance, including coverage for providers and services at a reasonable cost. About 21.4% of children with special health care needs missed seven or more days of school in 2018 due to illness or injury, compared with 6.4% of non-CSHCN. Only 42.2% of CSHCN receive care in a medical home.
Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs in Healthy People 2020: A Consumer Perspective. Genetic Alliance Monographs and Guides. Washington, D.C.: Genetic Alliance, 2013. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK132165/.
McPherson, Merle, Polly Arango, Harriette Fox, Cassie Lauver, Margaret McManus, Paul W. Newacheck, James M. Perrin, Jack P. Shonkoff, and Bonnie Strickland. “A New Definition of Children With Special Health Care Needs.” Pediatrics 102, no. 1 (July 1, 1998): 137–39. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.102.1.137.
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