Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Children in the United States suffered almost 120,000 cases of physical abuse in 2014. One factor that might influence this trend is health care coverage. This paper outlines a theoretical justification for a link between health care coverage and reductions in child physical abuse and examines evidence supporting the connection. The paper examines some anecdotal evidence and uses panel data linear regression analysis to explore state level physical abuse and health care coverage rates. Findings support the theory that higher rates of child health care coverage are associated with decreases in child physical abuse.