For Immediate Release

May 4, 2006

Contact:
Michael Bustamante
(916) 425-0839
Paul Hernandez
(213) 928-8617

STUDIES REVEAL SUCCESS OF LOCAL CHILDREN’S HEALTH INITIATIVES; PROVIDE IMPORTANT LESSONS ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE STATE DOLLARS

Studies Also Warn of Sustainability Due to Lack of Funding

Los Angeles, CA – As the nation commemorates “Cover the Uninsured Week” to focus on the critical need to provide health coverage for all Americans, two new studies released today by The California Endowment highlight the tremendous success local Children’s Health Initiatives (CHI’s) have had in plugging the health care coverage gap for over 165,000 kids in California. Each study documents the experiences that can be taken from the successes of CHI’s in order to make the existing state health care system more effective in terms of coverage, while at the same time warning about CHI’s sustainability due to a potential funding shortfall.

“Both of these studies point to local success stories that happen every day in counties across California that should be emulated,” said Dr. Robert K. Ross, pediatrician and President and CEO of The California Endowment. “At the same time, these studies raise serious questions about the financial sustainability of CHI’s that cannot be ignored.”

The first study, prepared by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC), provides an analysis of short-term steps needed to sustain recent gains in providing health insurance to children at the county level, primarily by building upon the success of California’s Children Health Initiatives, a local public/private partnership effort that has emerged in 31 counties (17 of which are operational and 14 in the planning states) across California. The study calls attention to the fact that local CHI’s, within the past five years, have successfully provided direct health coverage to more than 85,000 kids in 17 counties and have helped enroll an additional estimated 80,000 children eligible for either Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs.

At the same time, however, researchers raise concerns about long-term program financing and sustainability for the existing 17 county programs, in addition to the 14 other county programs in the process of coming on-line. Due to funding challenges, eight CHI’s have placed an estimated 10,210 children (ages 6 to 18) on waiting lists to receive health care coverage. Based on the total costs of covering all currently enrolled and waitlisted children in operational CHI’s through the end of 2007, the study estimates a major potential shortfall of about $126 million.

“Local CHI’s have literally been the health care lifeline for nearly 100,000 kids in California,” said Dr. Michael R. Cousineau, one of the researchers of the study performed at USC. “CHI’s emphasize efficiencies in outreach and enrollment that will hopefully serve as the backbone of future expansions on statewide health care coverage strategies.”

Indeed, USC researchers found that one of the most effective strategies used by CHI’s was a single message that all uninsured children would be eligible for coverage, either through Medi-Cal, the state’s Healthy Families program, or through a local Healthy Kids program. This “one open door” or “single point of entry” policy proved to help assure parents that their kids would become enrolled and covered in one of these programs.

The second study, performed by Community Health Councils, Inc., also reviewed local CHI’s, similarly concluding that CHI’s have been very effective in their program to date. In particular, the CHC study pointed out that a “no wrong door” approach, called “single point of entry” by the USC researchers, maximizes outreach, enrollment, retention and utilization among all health programs for children and families. The CHC study also applauded local strategic financing partnerships as lynchpins to successful programs, but recommended that “the future of these [CHI’s] programs resides in a partnership by the state, counties and federal governments.”

The CHC report contains 10 specific policy recommendations based on local successes that have the potential to improve access to health care for children across California. The report’s policy recommendations include strategic financing and access to technology; providing broad community access and promotion of available programs; simplifying and coordinating applications and renewals to ease the process for families; maintaining communication with families to ensure enrollment, utilization, and retention of services.

"The uninsured crisis in California has far reaching economic and public health implications. We need a blueprint for getting people who do not have access to health insurance into available public programs,” said Lark Galloway-Gilliam, M.P.A., executive director of Community Health Councils. “This framework provides a blueprint for the state and counties to make sense of the myriad activities taking place in the state."

Both the Keck School of Medicine of USC report and the Community Health Councils, Inc., report can be downloaded at www.covercaliforniaskids.org or by visiting The California Endowment website at www.calendow.org

About The California Endowment
The California Endowment was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. The Endowment makes grants to organizations and institutions that directly benefit the health and well-being of the people of California. For more information, visit The Endowment’s Web site at www.calendow.org.