Date: 9/13/2012
Contact 1 Full Name: Gwendolyn Driscoll
Contact 1 Company: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Press Body:
A new Center policy note analyzes what California counties are doing to get the word out about their Low Income Health Programs (LIHPs) as well as to enroll and retain people in the program.
LIHP — also known as California’s “Bridge to Reform” — is a county-based program that offers health care coverage to low-income adults and is helping counties prepare for the Affordable Care Act in 2014.
The policy note, which is largely based on a qualitative survey taken by 13 individual counties and a consortium of 35 counties, found that LIHPs have partnered with health service providers, county-based organizations, and advocacy groups to reach potential LIHP enrollees. More than 413,000 Californians have enrolled in LIHPs so far.
Specifically, some counties are using technology to streamline their application and enrollment processes, making these easier for both the applicant and county eligibility workers. For instance, San Bernardino County has self-service kiosks placed at its regional medical center to collect demographic and other eligibility information in initial screenings for LIHP and other public programs.
Another example is that a few LIHPs have been able to use existing information systems, such as the California Birth Record Database, to validate an applicant’s eligibility.
A few LIHPs have been able to decrease the time it takes them to determine whether a person is eligible for LIHP. Los Angeles County, for instance, decreased its time from six or seven weeks to one to three days.
LIHPs have also developed effective approaches to simplify the renewal process and prevent disruption of health coverage, largely by notifying and reminding enrollees of renewal deadlines by mail. In addition, researchers found that allowing enrollees to renew via the Internet also was an innovative approach.
The policy note, which was funded by the California Department of Health Care Services and the Blue Shield of California Foundation, was written by Ying-Ying Meng, co-director of the Center’s Chronic Disease Program, Livier Cabezas, a Center project manager, Dylan Roby, director of the Center’s Health and Economics and Evaluation Research Program, Nadereh Pourat, the Center’s director of research, and Gerald Kominski, the Center’s director.
Read the policy note: Successful Strategies for Increasing Enrollment in California’s Low Income Health Program (LIHP)