Successful strategies for increasing enrollment in California's Low Income Health Program (LIHP)
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Policy note (UCLA Center for Health Policy Research)
- Contributor(s):
- Meng, Ying-Ying. Cabezas, Livier. Roby, Dylan H. Pourat, Nadereh. Kominski, Gerald F. Blue Shield of California Foundation. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
- Publication:
- Los Angeles, Calif. : UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, [2012]
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Health Promotion Poverty -- statistics & numerical data Program Development Cooperative Behavior Documentation Eligibility Determination Health Services Accessibility Information Systems -- statistics & numerical data Interinstitutional Relations Internet Medically Uninsured Organizational Innovation Patient Advocacy Socioeconomic Factors Humans California United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- More than 400,000 Californians had ever enrolled in California's Low Income Health Program (LIHP) as of March 2012. These LIHP enrollees, who would otherwise be underinsured or uninsured, now have access to services through their county's safety net facilities and contracted providers. This policy note highlights innovative and successful strategies for outreach, enrollment, and redetermination and retention, as well as the challenges faced by LIHPs. Innovative Outreach Strategies. (1) Partnering with service providers, county-based organizations, and advocacy groups. (a) Service providers are the most commonly used channel for in-reach and outreach, as reported by 14 LIHPs. (b) Advocacy groups play a key role in reaching the targeted population due to their established relationships with users who might not otherwise be exposed to the program, as reported by 7 LIHPs. (2) Utilizing information technology (IT) systems to train workers for outreach and to help identify eligible individuals in other public programs. Effective Enrollment Strategies. (1) LIHPs take applications and process enrollment at an array of sites; however, the most commonly used type of site was health and social service agencies. Another effective method was to streamline screening and enrollment processes: for instance, facilitating data entry of applicants' information using kiosk systems. (2) Placing outreach and eligibility workers in high-volume service provider locations. (3) Verifying documentation using available information systems. Successful Retention and Redetermination Methods. (1) Mailing of notifications and prepopulated applications to redetermine and renew enrollees. (2) Web-based renewal options that allow clients to renew via the Internet. This policy note documents how LIHPs have identified and implemented innovative strategies to mitigate the challenges they have encountered. LIHPs have developed customized approaches to dealing with problems reported by clinics, public agencies, and enrollees, with the goal of improving the enrollment and redetermination processes. While LIHPs continue to face challenges, efforts to improve outreach, enrollment, and retention and redetermination continue. The efforts made by LIHPs can better prepare counties for the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101595822 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101595822