The kids of families with parents of the same sex are not as likely to have private coverage as those of opposite-sex couples.
According to the results of a recent data analysis, the children of families with same sex parents don’t have the same likelihood of having private health insurance as the children of parents of the opposite sex.
The analysis looked into the penetration of coverage among children of various couple dynamics.
The analysis was conducted by Gilbert Gonzales, MHA, and Lynn A. Blewett, PhD, from the State health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. What they found was that 63.3 percent of children in families with two fathers, and 67.5 percent of children from families with two mothers had coverage from private health insurance plans.
This was compared with 77 percent health insurance coverage among kids from families with opposite sex parents.
At the same time, the disparities in coverage through parent health insurance plans were somewhat reduced among children from families living in states where same sex marriages, domestic partnerships, civil unions, or second parent adoptions are legal This data was released in the Pediatrics journal online issue that was published on September 16, 2013.
Research looking into the wellbeing of children from same sex parents have traditionally looked into the social and psychological development of those kids. However, according to the published report “gay and lesbian families face unique challenges that directly impact the health of their children, particularly health-related outcomes associated with health insurance.”
The authors of the study added that their analysis offers “supporting evidence in favor of recent policy statements by the [American Academy of Pediatrics] endorsing same-sex marriage and second-parent adoptions”. At the moment, only the District of Columbia and 13 states across the U.S. recognize gay marriage, while 6 more recognize domestic partnerships or civil unions with full spousal and family rights. There are 18 states that allow same sex parents to adopt children.
The results showed that children were even less likely to have private health insurance if they had two fathers than if they had two mothers.
