Special Health Care Needs

Individuals with special health care needs include those who have, or are at increased risk for, chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions and who also require health and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by individuals generally. (Adapted from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Children with Special Health Care Needs definition.)

It is estimated that 18 million children in the United States have special health needs and an estimated 5.3 million Americans, a little more than 2% of the U.S. population, currently live with disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury.