"It's like pay or don't have it and now I'm doing without": the voice of transitional uninsured former foster youth

Policy Polit Nurs Pract. 2012 Feb;13(1):27-37. doi: 10.1177/1527154412447012. Epub 2012 May 25.

Abstract

Twenty-four thousand American youth lose Medicaid entitlements after discharge from foster care annually. The circumstance of being uninsured is a formidable barrier to health care that leaves the youth vulnerable to unmet health care needs. Given that foster youth often develop physical and/or mental health problems as a result of abuse or neglect, continuous access to health care is especially important. This descriptive phenomenology study explores the lived experience of transitional uninsured former foster youth. Nine uninsured former foster youth were recruited from a nonprofit community organization in an urban county and interviewed using semistructured interviews. Four themes identified from the analysis were (a) "Surviving the real world": emancipation without essential documentation; (b) "It's not always going to be fine": managing mental and physical health without health care insurance; (c) "Roadblocks": barriers to securing health care insurance; and (d) "Just not knowing": Medicaid eligible albeit without health care insurance.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Foster Home Care / economics
  • Health Policy
  • Health Services Accessibility / economics
  • Health Services Accessibility / statistics & numerical data
  • Health Services Needs and Demand / organization & administration*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medicaid / economics*
  • Medically Uninsured / statistics & numerical data*
  • Policy Making
  • Risk Assessment
  • Transition to Adult Care / organization & administration*
  • United States
  • Vulnerable Populations
  • Young Adult