Child health care coverage and reductions in child physical abuse

Abstract

Children in the United States suffered almost 118,000 cases of physical abuse in 2015. One factor that might help decrease child physical abuse is health care coverage. This paper presents a justification for a link between health care coverage and reductions in child physical abuse and, though it does not assess specific causal mechanisms, examines evidence for such a connection. The paper uses panel data linear regression analysis to explore state level physical abuse and health care coverage rates. Findings indicate a statistically significant relationship between increases in child health care coverage rates, including both private coverage and Medicaid coverage, and decreases in child physical abuse.