Children on Medicaid are six times more likely to be treated for obesity than children with private insurance are, according to a study from Thomson Medstat, a consulting/research firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich. The study looked at 2004 data from eight state Medicaid programs that represented 1 million children. The information was compared with records from 62 large insurers that insured another 1.9 million children. The study found that 195 of every 100,000 privately insured children were treated for obesity, compared with 1,115 per 100,000 for Medicaid children. Researchers speculated that the nearly sixfold difference “underestimates the differential in untreated obesity,” given the difficulties that children covered by Medicaid have with accessing the health care system. Dr. William Cochran, a pediatric gastroenterologist at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., said that the findings were “interesting, but I do not think that this is of any tremendous significance.” It's already known that pediatric obesity is being underdiagnosed and undertreated by health care providers. Because obesity is not a diagnosis covered by most insurance companies, many providers do not code it, he said. Although lower socioeconomic status may factor in as a risk, along with obese parents and minority status, “obesity is very prevalent throughout our society at all socioeconomic levels. With 15% of children being overweight and 15% being obese, all children should be considered at risk,” he said.
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