Evaluation of the San Mateo County Children's Health Initiative:
First Annual Report (April 2004): Executive Summary | Full Report, pdf
Second Annual Report (August 2005): Executive Summary | Full Report, pdf
Third Annual Report (August 2006): Executive Summary | Full Report, pdf

In January 2003, partners in San Mateo County, California launched the Children's Health Initiative (CHI), a program designed to ensure that 100 percent of the County's children have access to comprehensive health insurance coverage. Beginning in May 2003, The Urban Institute—along with consultant Dana Hughes of the University of California at San Francisco; Mathematica Policy Research; and the Aguirre Group—undertook a comprehensive evaluationof the San Mateo County CHI, spanning five years and including multiple evaluation components. It investigated the demographic and health status characteristics of children enrolled in Healthy Kids (comparing them with enrollees in the Healthy Families and Medi-Cal programs); their access to care; their use of services; their parents’ satisfaction with the program; and the cost of their care. In addition, the evaluation explored several issues of particular concern to the CHI Coalition, including (1) the possibility of substituting Healthy Kids coverage for other forms of public or private health insurance; (2) reasons for limited private provider participation in the program; and (3) the impact of the program on the financial status of hospitals in the county.

More information about this program can be found at the San Mateo County Children's Health Initiative Homepage.

The above passage was adapted from the Executive Summaries of the First and Second Annual Reports, available above.

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