CALIFORNIA HEALTH FAX

July 2, 2007 | VOLUME 14 | NUMBER 26

Investment In Healthy Kids

Pays Off For Santa Clara County

Program improves health, reduces school absences

CAMPBELL— Children who were insured through Santa Clara County’s Healthy Kids program for four years received more preventive care and were sick less frequently, according to a first-ever evaluation of the program.

While preventive care rose by 11 percent, repeated sick visits dropped by half, and unmet needs for medical or dental care fell by almost half. School absences also dropped, and the number of children reported in fair or poor health declined by a third. Parental worries were eased, meanwhile, with 38 percent reporting they were very or somewhat worried about meeting their children’s healthcare needs versus 61 percent soon after enrollment.

Mathematica Policy Research Inc. and its subcontractors, The Urban Institute and the University of California at San Francisco, conducted the study, funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Researchers interviewed parents of 372 children in the program and compared the results with earlier interviews. Before enrolling, the children had been uninsured most of their lives.

"Something remarkable has happened here in Santa Clara County— we have changed the trajectory of the lives of thousands of children," says Santa Clara Family Health Plan CEO Leona Butler. Besides Healthy Kids, the plan offers Medi- Cal managed care, Healthy Families and Healthy Generations.

The health plan was the first in the state to establish a Children’s Health Initiative to provide coverage through Healthy Kids. The locally funded program targets children of families who can’t afford insurance but earn too much income to qualify for state- and federally funded insurance programs. Twenty-three other counties have established their own initiatives, and an additional eight counties plan to start them. The state of Illinois is also using the model.

The CHI also helps families enroll in other programs. Of the estimated 763,000 uninsured children in California, almost 60 percent are eligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, according to the 100 Percent Campaign. The Santa Clara CHI's utreach led to a 28 percent boost in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families enrollment two ears after Healthy Kids was launched, which brought in an additional $24.4 million in state and federal healthcare money in 2001 and 2002.

Despite the progress, limited funding has forced more than 11,000 children on waiting lists. The Santa Clara initiative covers about 13,000 children through Healthy Kids, with 900 children on a six to seven month waiting list, says public information officer Elisabeth Handler. —BARBARA MARQUAND