Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Despite the inclusion of health equity and public health in undergraduate and graduate medical curricula, many medical students and trainees have minimal understanding of health insurance coverage for children of families with low incomes.Since children's eligibility for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) significantly influence their care, this article proposes that students and trainees, especially in pediatrics, should receive formal instruction about Medicaid and CHIP in 3 key areas: program structure; eligibility determinations, redeterminations, and range of covered or partially covered services; and enrollment requirements and processes.This article also suggests the nature and scope of expertise required to responsibly offer such instruction in classroom-and clinic-based settings.Health Economics in Medical Education While medical students and residents in the United States are taught much about anatomy, physiology, organ systems, and disease management, education on health insurance and Medicaid is lacking.Of topics learned in medical school, trainees have reported having the lowest confidence in their knowledge of health policy and economics.1 Nevertheless, exposure to health policy and health equity in medical school is occurring through public health clubs or optional public health and health policy electives in medical schools and residencies.2 For example, one student-led program sought to raise awareness of racial bias in medicine and demonstrate how racial injustice can be incorporated in preclinical medical student education.3,4 However, few schools or residencies mandate an extensive public health curriculum, and fewer provide comprehensive education on public insurance.The Association of American Medical Colleges reported that 132 of 147 medical schools taught some health care financing in required courses preclinically, 5 but, in our experience as recent medical school graduates, this teaching was limited to superficial topics, such as the broad differences between Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance-content that covered only what is tested on United States Medical Licensing Examination board exams.6 Upon reviewing the board exam content distribution for the specialties of emergency medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine, we found that none require knowledge of
Source: The AMA Journal of Ethic
Authors: Aubrey D. Brown, Lauren Ameden, Brigid Garrity
Institution: Boston Medical Center
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4413880138