Dr. Paul Shattuck, assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis, released a study on the cost of raising special needs kids. Dr. Shattuck found that there were significant out-of-pocket costs for parents of special needs kids and that they vary by state. To see where your state ranks, click here.

The ultimate message of this study proves that there are gaps in servicing the children with special needs, leaving parents to shoulder the burden. This is relevant information for the on-going debate of health care reform. While fraud may be running rampant and increasing health care costs, there are very real needs that are not being met and covered.

Dr. Shattuck answered questions about his study via email:

Q: Why did you feel it was important to do this study? What did you hope to achieve by showing, scientifically, that the special needs parents in this country typically have out-of-pocket costs?

A: We mainly undertook this study to demonstrate that the choices states make about eligibility thresholds for public programs (like SCHIP) really make a difference in terms of the financial well being of families caring for a child with special health needs. In other words, these policy choices have measurable impacts on families.

Q: Massachusetts ranks number one in the lowest out-of-pocket costs. Should parents migrate to states that have these lower costs? Would that help?

A: Families move all the time for many different reasons. We have a fairly high rate of mobility in our society. I’m not advocating that families should move to a particular state in order to lower their costs. These state rankings are fluid and will likely change over time.

Q: There is great debate about a public health care option with the legislation being proposed in the House and Senate with regards to health care reform. Are the costs of special needs kids and parents being taken into consideration in this debate?

A: That’s a great question and I’m afraid I do not have a clear answer. There are two major bills now, one in the House and one in the Senate. I do not know if there are specific provisions for these vulnerable families.

Q: A recent article said that an upcoming research project included discovering which policy changes need to be made to help parents and children with special needs to pay for and save for these costs… are those study results going to be shared with policy-makers in Congress? If so, which ones would you consider sending them to?

A: One promising policy development is a mechanism called an individual development account. Basically, it would give parents of kids with special needs the ability to invest money today into a fund to help cover costs in the future, and the investment fund would be tax free…kind of like an individual retirement account.