www.InsureAllKids.org - What Makes the CHI Model Successful

What Makes the CHI Model Successful

Children’s Health Initiatives have demonstrated remarkable success, bringing a new, innovative approach to providing children with access to health care through insurance. By leveraging local resources, CHIs have directed more than $150 million statewide in public and private financing to the goal of expanding coverage and access for children. Since 2001 CHIs’ expanded outreach has yielded tens of thousands of additional enrollments statewide in Medi-Cal (Medicaid) and Healthy Families (S-CHIP), while providing comprehensive coverage to roughly 86,000 children through local Healthy Kids insurance programs.

	Simplify, Automate, and Follow the Leader: Lessons on Expanding Health Coverage for Children, (November 2006)
	This issue brief from the California HealthCare Foundation synthesizes key lessons from successful initiatives to expand children's coverage in California, as well as reforms that have been identified but not yet implemented.

	Monitoring the Expansion of Children's Health Initiatives in California, pdf (May 2006)
	This Issue Brief from the Division of Community Health at USC Keck School of Medicine describes the progress of California's CHIs as part of an evaluation of Cover California's Kids, a public education campaign supported by health care providers, business groups, teachers, parents, faith-based organizations, labor, and children’s advocates and funded by The California Endowment.

	Executive Summary to Pioneers for Coverage: Local Solutions for Insuring all Children in California, pdf \| View Entire Document (October 2004, updated February 2006)
	The Executive Summary describes how local CHIs, despite difficult policy and budgetary environments, have made significant improvements in the financing and delivery of health care to children throughout California. By fostering innovative public/private partnerships and inter-agency collaborations, CHIs provide families with more options and a simplified process for enrolling their children in coverage.

	Expanding Coverage for Children: The Santa Clara County Children's Health Initiative, pdf (April 2005) *
	This issue brief illustrates how the Santa Clara CHI markedly increased local enrollment into California’s SCHIP and Medicaid programs by streamlining the enrollment process across all available public programs and developing a comprehensive outreach campaign based on the message that all children in families with incomes under 300% of the Federal Poverty Level are eligible for coverage. Expanding enrollment across all available programs brings more state and federal funds into the local community to provide better care.

	Santa Clara Healthy Kids Program Reduces Gaps in Children's Access to Medical and Dental Care, pdf (April 2005, revised August 2005) *

	Study Shows "Healthy Kids" Program Closes Gap in Health Care for Children, pdf (April 2005) *
	As the above issue brief and fact sheet show, the other key component of the CHI, a locally-funded health insurance program called Healthy Kids, has also demonstrated remarkable success in bridging the gap in health and dental care for children from working families who could not otherwise afford health insurance.

	*These materials summarize key findings from a comprehensive evaluation of the Santa Clara County CHI being conducted by Mathematica Policy Research in partnership with the Urban Institute and the University of California, San Francisco.