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Largely due to a high uninsured rate, low-income, non-citizen children have very poor access to care, with many lacking a regular provider and going without preventive care. This brief examines health coverage and access to care for low-income, non-citizen children to provide insight into the challenges they face in obtaining health insurance and accessing care. Issue Brief (.pdf)
This report highlights states' innovative use of health information technology in their Medicaid and SCHIP programs to improve their ability to reach and enroll eligible children, improve the quality of care for children, increase communications with families, and continue to modernize their programs. Although many of these efforts are still in their early stages, findings to date indicate improvements in access to care, care coordination, case management, and administrative efficiency. States are pursuing ways to…
This brief, the third in a series, examines changes to citizenship documentation requirements under the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. The law extends the requirement to document citizenship that applied in Medicaid to CHIP as well. At the same time, it modifies current requirements to reduce the paperwork burden on families and states and helps ensure that eligible children and others are enrolled and receive needed health care without delay. Brief (.pdf)
The Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation co-sponsored this briefing to examine the factors which influence children's coverage. Questions addressed include:What are the trends in private sector coverage? How well are the enrollment simplification and outreach tools that are included in this year’s CHIP reauthorization helping to reach those children who are eligible but unenrolled? How much does a child’s coverage depend on where he or she lives? For more information,…
This report analyzes data from a survey of 42 low-income families with children with moderate or severe disabilities to better understand the impact of welfare reform on health coverage for these families. Report
This report presents the results of eight focus groups conducted in several languages throughout California to explore the knowledge and opinions of parents of potentially eligible children about the Medi-Cal program, California's Medicaid program. The study found that participants were confused about eligibility requirements, found the enrollment process onerous and demeaning, and had suggestions about how they could be better educated about the program. Policy Brief: Medi-Cal Eligibility And Enrollment (.pdf) Report: Barriers to…
Medicaid Facts: Medicaid's Role for Children This fact sheet provides an overview of children's eligibility and coverage under Medicaid, summarizes Mediciad benefits and expenditures for children, and highlights key issues facing the program as it continues to serve children. Fact Sheet Fact Sheet
Currently, eleven states cover parents with SCHIP funds via a federal waiver. This paper examines these programs and considers them within the context of the states' efforts to cover children. Issue Brief (.pdf)
An update to "Medicaid Budgets Under Stress: Survey Findings for State Fiscal Year 2000, 2001, and 2002." This paper was commissioned to evaluate how several states' fiscal outlooks have changed since September 11. ISSUE BRIEF Download FULL REPORT Download
New Data Source on Hospital Use by California's Medi-Cal Enrollees A project sponsored by The Kaiser Family Foundation has resulted in a new source of data that will enhance research on the Medi-Cal program, including the impact of Medi-Cal managed care. The project linked 2 datasets: the Patient Discharge Dataset containing hospital discharge information maintained by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), and a Medi-Cal dataset containing eligibility and health plan…
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