As part of its public health assessment and planning functions, DHS has initiated a series of child health assessment reports. This issue and issue 2 of LA Health , on insurance status of children in the county, represent the second round of child health assessment reports. DHS plans to publish a final report on all accomplishments and issues regarding the status of children's health in the county. The need for health care should be the most important determinant of who receives services. Access to primary care is particularly important for children because of the known benefits of receiving developmental screening, immunizations, and other preventive measures, particularly in the early years.
Previous studies demonstrate that many children face obstacles in obtaining health care.
1 Access to needed services is often difficult to obtain if a child is not covered by health insurance, if parents are unable to pay for services, or if a child has no regular provider. 2 Other barriers include long waiting times to see a doctor, a lack of culturally sensitive and linguistically acceptable clinicians, transportation problems to and from clinicians, attitudes and beliefs about health care services, and characteristics of the delivery system itself. All of these may affect a parent's decision or ability to obtain medical care for their children. This report describes barriers families in Los Angeles County face in obtaining health care for their children. The report only includes data on parents' decisions 1.