Most children are healthy and consume relatively few health care resources.
However, children s health care needs can and do vary with age. In addition, adolescents are a rapidly growing segment of our population. The continuing large growth of this age cohort with their increased need for health care services may place insurers and health care providers at financial risk, particularly within capitated managed care arrangements. Because current capitation rate setting approaches do not sufficiently account for enrollees health status, insurers and health care providers may receive inadequate reimbursement when caring for those who have increased health care needs like adolescents. We will conduct these analyses for the overall group of adolescents, for a subgroup of them who have special health care needs, and for those with asthma.