Families also contribute to the purchase of private health insurance.
Together these purchasers have an important stake in the design of children's coverage policies and in the selection of qualified managed care plans. Decisions about plan choice are made on the basis of a combination of factors - costs, scope of benefits, experience with plan providers and quality performance. Each of these factors is addressed below to help purchasers make informed choices. All children require ongoing preventive and primary care to assure their healthy growth and development and to treat acute conditions, which are so common in childhood. These conditions include, for example, asthma, attention deficit disorder, sickle cell disease, cerebral palsy and adolescent depression.