Established Evidence Results

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Collaboration with Local Agencies (State), Collaboration with Local Agencies (Health Care Provider/Practice), CLASSROOM_SCHOOL, PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Outreach (caregiver), Communication Tools, Distribution of Promotional Items (Classroom/School)

Intervention Description: In Michigan, a school-based outreach effort was piloted using existing school communication tools to identify children who are currently uninsured and may be eligible for state-subsidized health insurance. School districts were provided with two health insurance status collection forms to be included with the free and reduced school lunch application, and as part of the student registration packet and welcome materials for school. Completed forms were sent to a state registered application-assisting agency to ensure families can access the coverage and services they need. A final step in the process is outreach to eligible respondents by the Michigan Primary Care Association to help ensure that they receive information and access to the healthcare coverage and services they need.

Intervention Results: As a result of the survey, 156 children were identified as not having health insurance. This represents more than 44% of the 358 children who are eligible for State subsidized health insurance, in the participating school districts, but are uninsured. Integrating the collection of health insurance status into routine school communication channels is an effective way to identify children who do not have health insurance and may be eligible for state subsidized benefits.

Conclusion: 1. The Michigan Department of Community Health should lead the effort to work with the Michigan Department of Education to modify the Free and Reduced Lunch Application to capture whether or not the applicant has health insurance. 2. The Michigan Department of Community Health should lead the effort to incorporate into the direct certified free and reduced lunch eligibility process a systematic check as to whether or not the applicant has State subsidized health insurance. 3. The Michigan Department of Community Health should provide resources from the expected performance bonus to work with schools across the State to implement these changes.

Study Design: Cross-sectional pilot study

Setting: Schools (School districts in Van Buren County, Michigan)

Population of Focus: Uninsured children

Data Source: Survey data

Sample Size: 8,999 children

Age Range: School-aged children

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Clinical Decision Support System, PROVIDER/PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), STATE, POPULATION-BASED SYSTEMS

Intervention Description: To determine whether a computerized clinical decision support system is an effective approach to improve standardized developmental surveillance and screening (DSS) within primary care practices.

Intervention Results: Significant increase in percentage of children screened with a standardized screening tool at target visits (85% vs 24.4%, P<.001)

Conclusion: Using a computerized clinical decision support system to automate the screening of children for developmental delay significantly increased the numbers of children screened at 9, 18, and 30 months of age. It also significantly improved surveillance at other visits. Moreover, it increased the number of children who ultimately were diagnosed as having developmental delay and who were referred for timely services at an earlier age.

Study Design: RCT

Setting: Four primary care pediatric clinics in the Eskenazi Medical Group in Indianapolis, Indiana

Population of Focus: Children younger than 66 months

Data Source: Child medical record

Sample Size: Medical records - Intervention (n=180) - Control (n=180)

Age Range: Not specified

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Care Coordination, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice)

Intervention Description: The Coordinated Healthcare for Complex Kids (CHECK) model takes a broad approach to care coordination and health promotion by addressing social determinants of health, caregiver wellness, and mental health needs, in addition to chronic disease management, for children and youth with chronic health conditions. Community health workers deliver care coordination and assess individual and family needs, as well as patterns of health care utilization, to determine specific services offered to each family. The program is focused on lowering health care costs, especially regarding emergency department admissions, of pediatric patients with chronic health conditions.

Intervention Results: Overall Medicaid expenditures and utilization decreased considerably during the first year of the CHECK program for both participants and the usual care group. Notably, expenditures did not increase among CHECK participants, which has been noted in other care coordination programs. The rate of inpatient and ED utilization decreased for both groups. The mean (SD) inpatient utilization before enrollment in CHECK was 63.0 (344.4) per 1000 PYs for the intervention group and 69.3 (370.9) per 1000 PYs for the usual care group, which decreased to 43.5 (297.2) per 1000 PYs and 47.8 (304.9) per 1000 PYs, respectively, after the intervention.

Conclusion: Overall Medicaid expenditures and health care utilization (hospital and ED) decreased similarly for both CHECK participants and the usual care group.

Study Design: RCT

Setting: Community (Coordinated Healthcare for Complex Kids (CHECK) program; Illinois Medicaid)

Population of Focus: Children and young adults with chronic disease who receive public insurance

Data Source: Illinois Medicaid paid claims for CHECK participants using the Care Coordination Claims Data (CCCD) provided by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services

Sample Size: 6,245 children and young adults (3,119 in the control group and 3,126 in the intervention group)

Age Range: Children <1 and youth >18 (mean age was 11.3 years)

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Educational Material (Provider), Collaboration with Local Agencies (State), Collaboration with Local Agencies (Health Care Provider/Practice), Nurse/Nurse Practitioner, PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Patient Navigation (Assistance), Care Coordination, STATE, Multicomponent Approach

Intervention Description: The Healthy Beginnings system of care in Atlanta, GA connects children and their families to health insurance and a medical home model of care to support children’s health and development. The main components are care management + education and parent engagement + collaborative partnerships. A registered nurse, known as the health navigator, supports parents and helps them learn how to work with health care professionals on behalf of their children; they also connect parents to the Center for Working Families to ensure that they receive public benefits for which they are eligible.

Intervention Results: Healthy Beginnings coordinated care approach has ensured that participating children and families have health insurance (97%) and receive regular immunizations (92%), ongoing health care from a primary care physician and dental health provider, and regular developmental screenings (98%) and follow-up care. Healthy Beginnings has dramatically increased children’s access to health care and forms the basis for a cost-effective approach that can be replicated in other communities.

Conclusion: By building upon the partnerships formed through the foundation’s community change effort, Healthy Beginnings has dramatically increased neighborhood children’s access to health care and forms the basis for a cost-effective approach that can be replicated in other communities.

Study Design: Program evaluation

Setting: Community (Community-based organizations in Atlanta, Georgia)

Population of Focus: Low-income young children and families

Data Source: Questionnaire data

Sample Size: 279 children

Age Range: 0-10 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice),

Intervention Description: Medicaid and the Child Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) are key sources of coverage for U.S. children. Established in 1997, CHIP allocated $40 billion of federal funds across the first 10 years but continued support required reauthorization. After 2 failed attempts in Congress, CHIP was finally reauthorized and significantly expanded in 2009. Although much is known about the demand-side policy effects, much less is understood about the policy's impact on providers. In this paper, we leverage a unique physician dataset to examine if and how pediatricians responded to the expansion of the public insurance program.

Intervention Results: We find that newly trained pediatricians are 8 percentage points more likely to subspecialize and as much as 17 percentage points more likely to enter private practice after the law passed. There is also suggestive evidence of greater private practice growth in more rural locations.

Conclusion: The sharp supply-side changes that we observe indicate that expanding public insurance can have important spillover effects on provider training and practice choices.

Study Design: Difference-in-differences (DD) model

Setting: New York State

Population of Focus: Physicians completing their residency training in the State of New York

Sample Size: 2,009 pediatric providers

Age Range: Adult providers

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Quality Improvement/Practice-Wide Intervention, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE

Intervention Description: To evaluate child-level dental utilization and expenditure outcomes based on if and where children received fluoride varnish (FV) at quality improvement (QI) medical practices, at non-QI medical practices, at dental practices, or those who never received FV from any practice.

Intervention Results: The QI group had a significantly higher incidence of preventive dental visits than the dental (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91-0.96) or non-QI groups (IRR = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.84-0.88). Compared with the QI group, the non-QI (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.6; 95% CI, 2.4-2.9) and dental (aOR = 2.9; 95% CI, 2.6-3.3) groups were significantly more likely to have caries-related treatment visits. The dental group children were significantly more likely to have dental treatment under GA than the QI group (aOR = 5.3; 95% CI, 2.0-14.4).

Conclusion: Children seen at QI practices appear to have an increased uptake of preventive dental services, which may explain the lower incidence of dental caries visits and GA treatment.

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), STATE, Perinatal Committees/Councils

Intervention Description: Numerous states have implemented policies expanding public insurance eligibility or subsidizing private insurance for parents. Under the ACA, states retain significant flexibility in terms of eligibility and program structure. Approaches to state-level expansions to parents include providing public health insurance with or without an enrollee premium and providing subsidies for private health insurance. The Oregon Experiment (Medicaid expansion) gave a subset of uninsured, low-income adults access to Medicaid through a randomized selection process.

Intervention Results: Children’s odds of having Medicaid or CHIP coverage increased when their parents were randomly selected to apply for Medicaid; findings demonstrate a causal link between parents’ access to Medicaid coverage and their children’s coverage. Children whose parents were randomly selected to apply for Medicaid had 18% higher odds of being covered in the first 6 months after parent’s selection compared with children whose parents were not selected. In the immediate period after selection, children whose parents were selected to apply for Medicaid significantly increased from 3830 (61.4%) to 4152 (66.6%) compared with a non-significant change from 5049 (61.8%) to 5044 (61.7%) for children whose parents were not selected to apply. The effect remained significant during months 7 to 12; months 13 to 18 showed a positive but not significant effect. Children whose parents were selected and obtained coverage had more than double the odds of having coverage compared with children whose parents were not selected and did not gain coverage.

Conclusion: Children’s odds of having Medicaid or CHIP coverage increased when their parents were randomly selected to apply for Medicaid. Children whose parents were selected and subsequently obtained coverage benefited most. This study demonstrates a causal link between parents’ access to Medicaid coverage and their children’s coverage.

Study Design: Randomized natural experiment; generalized estimating equation models

Setting: Policy (Oregon Medicaid expansion program)

Population of Focus: Children whose parents participated in the Oregon Experiment (Medicaid expansion program)

Data Source: The Oregon Experiment’s reservation list data; Oregon Health Plan (OHP) administrative data

Sample Size: 14,409 children

Age Range: 2-18 Years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Educational Material (Provider), PARENT_FAMILY, Training (Parent/Family), PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Outreach (caregiver), PATIENT_CONSUMER, Peer Counselor, Parent Mentors

Intervention Description: The aim of the Kids’ Health Insurance by Educating Lots of Parents (Kids’ HELP) study was to evaluate the effects of parent mentors – Latino parents with children covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – on insuring Latino children in a community-based trial of uninsured children from 2011-2015. Parent mentors were trained to assist families in getting insurance coverage, accessing health care, and addressing social determinants of health. The intervention group was assigned parent mentors – trained, fluently bilingual Latino parents who had at least one child insured by Medicaid or CHIP for at least one year. Parent mentors attended a two-day training and received training manuals in English and Spanish with 9 training topics and one on sharing experiences. Parents mentors provided 8 services to intervention children and families (e.g., teaching about types of insurance programs and application processes; helping parents complete and submit children’s insurance applications; acting as family advocates by liaising between families and Medicaid or CHIP agencies; and helping parents complete and submit applications for coverage renewal).

Intervention Results: The study found that parent mentors were more effective than traditional methods in insuring children (95% vs. 69%), achieving faster coverage and greater parental satisfaction, reducing unmet health care needs, providing children with primary care providers, and improving the quality of well-child and subspecialty care. Children in the parent-mentor group had higher quality of overall and specialty care, lower out-of-pocket spending, and higher rates of coverage two years after the end of the intervention (100% vs. 70%). Parent mentors are highly effective in insuring uninsured Latino children and eliminating disparities. Parent mentors, as a special category of community health workers, could be an excellent fit with and complement to current state community health worker models. This RCT documented that the Kids’ HELP intervention is significantly more efficacious than traditional Medicaid and CHIP methods of insuring Latino children. Kids’ HELP eliminates coverage disparities for Latino children, insures children more quickly and with greater parental satisfaction than among control parents, enhances health care access, reduces unmet needs, improves the quality of well-child and subspecialty care, reduces out-of-pocket spending and family financial burden, empowers parents, ad creates jobs.

Conclusion: Parent mentors are highly effective in insuring uninsured Latino children and eliminating disparities.

Study Design: RCT

Setting: Community (Communities in Dallas County, Texas with the highest proportions of uninsured and low-income minority children)

Population of Focus: Uninsured children 0-18 years old whose primary caregiver identified them as Latino and uninsured and reported meeting Medicaid/CHIP eligibility criteria for the child

Data Source: Kids’ HELP trial data; questionnaires

Sample Size: 155 subjects (children and parents); 75 in the control group and 80 in the intervention group

Age Range: 0-18 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Educational Material (Provider), PARENT_FAMILY, Training (Parent/Family), PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Outreach (caregiver), PATIENT_CONSUMER, Peer Counselor, Parent Mentors

Intervention Description: This study examined the effects of parent mentors on insuring minority children in the Kids’ Health Insurance by Educating Lots of Parents (Kids’ HELP) program. Parent mentors were experienced parents with ≥1 Medicaid/CHIP-covered child who received 2 days of training, then assisted families for 1 year with insurance applications, retaining coverage, medical homes, and social needs; controls received traditional Medicaid/CHIP outreach. Parent mentors received monthly stipends for each family mentored. Parents mentors and intervention participants were matched by race/ethnicity and zip code, whenever possible. Latino families were matched with fluently bilingual Latino parent mentors. Session content for the 2-day training was based on training provided to community case managers in the research team’s previous successful RCT and addressed 9 topics (e.g., why health insurance is so important; being a successful parent mentor; parent mentor responsibilities; Medicaid and CHIP programs and the application process; the importance of medical homes).

Intervention Results: In the Kids’ HELP trial, the intervention was more effective than traditional outreach/enrollment in insuring uninsured minority children, resulting in 95% of children obtaining insurance vs. 68% of controls. The intervention also insured children faster, and was more effective in renewing coverage, improving access to medical and dental care, reducing out-of-pocket costs, achieving parental satisfaction and quality of care, and sustaining insurance after intervention cessation. This is the first RCT to evaluate the effectiveness of parent mentors in insuring uninsured children. Kids’ HELP could possibly save $12.1 to $14.1 billion. Parent mentors were more effective in improving access to primary, dental, and specialty care; reducing unmet needs, achieving parental satisfaction with care, and sustaining long-term coverage. Parent mentors resulted in lower out-of-pocket costs for doctor and sick visits, higher well-child care quality ratings, and higher levels of parental satisfaction and respect from children’s physicians.

Conclusion: PMs are more effective than traditional Medicaid/CHIP methods in insuring uninsured minority children, improving health care access, and achieving parental satisfaction, but are inexpensive and highly cost-effective.

Study Design: RCT

Setting: Community (Communities in Dallas County, Texas with the highest proportions of uninsured and low-income minority children)

Population of Focus: Primary caregiver had ≥1 child 0 to 18 years old who lacked health insurance but was Medicaid/CHIP eligible, and the primary caregiver self-identified the child as Latino/Hispanic or African-American

Data Source: Kids’ HELP trial data; questionnaires; national, state, and regional surveys

Sample Size: 237 participants; 114 in the control group and 123 in the intervention group

Age Range: 0-18 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Education/Training (caregiver), Collaboration with Local Agencies (State), Educational Material (caregiver), STATE, Multicomponent Approach

Intervention Description: In New York, to maximize comprehensive insurance coverage for CYSHCN, a Service Integration Model was formed between the Office of Health Insurance Services and the Early Intervention Program. The 3 key components include educational messaging (jointly prepared messages about health insurance benefits and enrollment assistance offered by the Office of Health Insurance Services through the Early Intervention Program) + data from program databases (data matching with the Early Intervention Program) + individual counseling using program staff (incorporation of the Office of Health Insurance Services program staff—child benefit advisors—to work directly with parents of children in the Early Intervention Program to facilitate enrollment and renewal. The model overcomes enrollment barriers by using consumer friendly enrollment materials and one-on-one assistance, and shows the benefits of a comprehensive and collaborative approach to assisting families with enrollment into public health insurance.

Intervention Results: Since 2008, more than 5,000 children in the Early Intervention Program have been successfully enrolled and coverage renewed in Medicaid through the Service Integration Model. In 2008, the study team found that children in the Early Intervention Program had a 34% churning rate for Medicaid because of enrollment barriers and misconception of the Early Intervention Program as a replacement for Medicaid. By 2010, the churning rate for clients assisted through Office of Health Insurance Services was reduced from 34% to 8%. The Office of Health Insurance Services will modify the Service Integration Model to respond to New York State’s implementation of the Health Insurance Exchange required by the 2010 ACA. Partnerships across government programs and agencies offer opportunities to enroll hard-to-reach populations into public health insurance. The model reflects how government programs can work together to improve rates of enrollment and retention in public health insurance. The key elements of integration of program messages, data matching, and staff involvement allow for the model to be tailored to the specific needs of other government programs.

Conclusion: The model overcomes enrollment barriers by using consumer-friendly enrollment materials and one-on-one assistance, and shows the benefits of a comprehensive and collaborative approach to assisting families with enrollment into public health insurance.

Study Design: Program evaluation

Setting: Community (New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Office of Health Insurance Services and the Early Intervention Program)

Population of Focus: Uninsured and underinsured young children with special health care needs in New York City participating in the Early Intervention Program

Data Source: Evaluation data

Sample Size: 6,500 children in early intervention with a Medicaid number

Age Range: 0-3 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), NATIONAL, Policy/Guideline (National)

Intervention Description: Numerous states have implemented policies expanding public insurance eligibility or subsidizing private insurance for parents. Under the ACA, states retain significant flexibility in terms of eligibility and program structure. This study assessed the impact of parental health insurance expansions from 1999 to 2012 on the likelihood that parents are insured; their children are insured; both the parent and child within a family unit are insured; and the type of insurance. Cross-state and within-state multivariable regression models estimated the effects of health insurance expansions targeting parents using 2-way fixed effect modeling and difference-in-difference modeling.

Intervention Results: Cross-state analyses demonstrate that public expansions without premiums and special subsidized plan expansions had the largest effects on parental coverage and increased the likelihood of jointly insuring the parent and child. Expansions increased parental coverage by 2.5 percentage points and increased the likelihood of both parent and child being insured by 2.1 percentage points. Substantial variation was observed by type of expansion. Public expansions without premiums and special subsidized plan expansions had the largest effects on parental coverage and increased the likelihood of jointly insuring both the parent and child. Higher premiums were a substantial deterrent to parents’ insurance. Our findings suggest that premiums and the type of insurance expansion can have a substantial impact on the insurance status of the family. The most effective expansions for parental insurance coverage were those for traditional Medicaid coverage without premiums and for special subsidized plans that subsidized costs for individuals to purchase state-sponsored plans. These findings can help inform states as they continue to make decisions about expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to cover all family members.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that premiums and the type of insurance expansion can have a substantial impact on the insurance status of the family. These findings can help inform states as they continue to make decisions about expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act to cover all family members.

Study Design: Cross-sectional analysis of data

Setting: Policy (States)

Population of Focus: Parents ≤ 300% FPL who were eligible for insurance expansions in selected states

Data Source: 2000–2013 March supplements to the Current Population Survey, with data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey—Insurance Component and the Area Resource File

Sample Size: 19 expansion states (representing 28 expansions) and 22 control states without a parental expansion during the study period

Age Range: Parents and children; specific ages not stated

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Educational Material (caregiver), Patient Navigation (Assistance), Outreach (Provider), Enrollment Assistance

Intervention Description: Community Health Centers (CHCs) serving low-income populations are well-positioned to support patients navigating the complexities of the public health insurance application process and prevent lapses in coverage. Specialized staff, called enrollment assistants, can help to determine insurance eligibility and/or guide patients through application processes, including assistance with completing application forms, understanding requirements, and providing appropriate documentation.

Intervention Results: Enrollment assistants are valuable resources, and CHCs are effective at helping patients with public health insurance. The enrollment assistants helped families understand the process and avoid mistakes and delays while patients valued their advice and their pragmatic, hands-on application assistance.

Conclusion: Patients’ understanding of eligibility status, reapplication schedules, and how to apply, were major barriers to insurance enrollment. Clinic staff addressed these barriers by reminding patients when applications were due, assisting with applications as needed, and tracking submitted applications to ensure approval. Families trusted clinic staff with insurance enrollment support, and appreciated it. CHCs are effective at helping patients with public health insurance. Access to insurance expiration data, tools enabling enrollment activities, and compensation are needed to support enrollment services in CHCs.

Study Design: Observational cross-case comparison

Setting: Community (Community-health centers in Oregon)

Population of Focus: Practice members (e.g., managers, clinical and non-clinical staff, enrollment assistants) and families using community health centers

Data Source: Observations and interviews

Sample Size: 4 Community Health Centers (CHCs) in Oregon; 26 practice members; 18 adult family members who had at least one pediatric patient

Age Range: Parents and children; specific ages not stated

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Medicaid

Intervention Description: The Massachusetts Medicaid Buy-In program, called MassHealth CommonHealth, allows families of children with disabilities to buy into the state’s Medicaid program to cover more services and to defray costs that private insurance does not cover. Children with disabilities who do not have other insurance can use the program as their sole insurance; Children with disabilities who have other insurance can use the program as a secondary payer to supplement coverage and reduce families’ out-of-pocket costs due to the deductible, co-payments, and coinsurance for the child. Adopting a Medicaid Buy-In program may be an effective way for states to create a pathway to Medicaid for children with disabilities whose family income is too high for Medicaid and who have unmet needs and/or whose families incur high out-of-pocket costs for their care.

Intervention Results: This study suggests that the MassHealth CommonHealth Buy-In program improves access to care for children with disabilities by providing the benefits that were limited in scope or unavailable through other insurance before enrollment and by making available services more affordable. Parents reported that this increased access resulted in improvements in their child’s health or functioning, reduced stress on the parents and families, and reduced financial strain. Overall, many respondents appreciated the CommonHealth program. Despite these benefits, other families reported that they continued to face barriers in access to care for their children with disabilities. They reported difficulty in finding mental health or dental care, as many of these providers (as well as other specialists) did not accept MassHealth. Even with CommonHealth, families still had high out-of-pocket costs due to services that are not covered or high CommonHealth premiums. Families also struggled with complex paperwork requirements. Policy and administrative changes could improve the program and further increase access to care for children with complex, costly conditions. Adopting a Medicaid Buy-In program may be an effective way for other states to create a pathway to Medicaid for children with disabilities whose family income is too high for Medicaid and who have unmet needs and/or whose families incur high out-of-pocket costs for their care.

Conclusion: Data suggest that CommonHealth improves access to care for children with disabilities by providing the benefits that were limited in scope or unavailable through other insurance before enrollment and by making available services more affordable. Policy and administrative changes could improve the program and further increase access to care for children with complex, costly conditions. Adopting a Medicaid Buy-In program may be an effective way for states to create a pathway to Medicaid for children with disabilities whose family income is too high for Medicaid and who have unmet needs and/or whose families incur high out-of-pocket costs for their care.

Study Design: Survey

Setting: Policy (CommonHealth, Massachusetts's Medicaid Buy-In program)

Population of Focus: Parents and caregivers of Massachusetts children with disabilities enrolled in CommonHealth

Data Source: Survey data

Sample Size: 615 families

Age Range: 0-18 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), Provider Training/Education, Nurse/Nurse Practitioner, CLASSROOM_SCHOOL, Teacher/Staff Training, PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Outreach (caregiver), Outreach (School Staff)

Intervention Description: Healthy and Ready to Learn is a targeted, school-based CHIP and Medicaid outreach initiative for identifying and enrolling eligible and uninsured children entering kindergarten in North Carolina’s highest need counties. School nurses and administrative staff attend regional trainings on how to use a required health assessment form, submitted at school entry, to identify uninsured children who could be eligible but are not enrolled in public insurance. Continuous community-based outreach (e.g., attending community events, providing outreach materials in various languages, contacting local organizations and leaders to help inform families about CHIP and Medicaid) is also utilized.

Intervention Results: With increased enrollment rates and well-child exam rates, findings demonstrate the potential benefits of using schools as a point of intervention in enrolling young children in public health insurance and as a source of trusted information for parents from low-income backgrounds. The initiative increased enrollment rates by 12.2% points and increased well-child exam rates by 8.6% points in the regression discontinuity design models, but not differences-in-differences, and did not significantly increase well-child visits. Findings demonstrate the potential benefits of using schools as a point of intervention in enrolling young children in public health insurance and as a source of trusted information for low-income parents.

Conclusion: Findings demonstrate the potential benefits of using schools as a point of intervention in enrolling young children in public health insurance and as a source of trusted information for low-income parents.

Study Design: Quasi-experimental difference-in-difference and regression discontinuity

Setting: Schools (Elementary schools in North Carolina)

Population of Focus: Uninsured kindergarten-aged children in high economic need counties in North Carolina

Data Source: Medicaid and CHIP administrative data, focus groups, key informant interviews

Sample Size: 300 children; 16 counties were selected as intervention sites that included 278 elementary schools in 22 districts; in the second year, expanded to 32 counties

Age Range: 4-6 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Designated Clinic/Extended Hours, Community Health Services Policy, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice),

Intervention Description: The intervention described in the study involved granting free access to daytime and out-of-hours general practice services for all children aged younger than 6 years in the Republic of Ireland. This policy change allowed additional children to have free visits to both daytime and out-of-hours care settings, leading to a significant increase in healthcare service utilization among this age group

Intervention Results: In the year after granting of free general practice care for children younger than 6 years, 9.4% more children attended the daytime services and 20.1% more children were seen in the out-of-hours services. Annual number of visits by patients increased by 28.7% for daytime services and by 25.7% for outof-hours services, translating to 6,682 more visits overall. Average visitation rate for children this age increased from 2.77 visits per year to 3.25 visits per year for daytime services, but changed little for out-of-hours services, from 1.52 visits per year to 1.59 visits per year.

Conclusion: Offering free childhood general practice services led to a dramatic increase in visits. This increase has implications for future health care service planning in mixed public and privately funded systems.

Study Design: The study design was a retrospective analysis of electronic health record data before and after the implementation of a policy change.

Setting: Republic of Ireland, specifically in 8 daytime general practice services and their local out-of-hours service called NorthDoc.

Population of Focus: Healthcare providers, policymakers, and researchers interested in healthcare utilization and access to care for children.

Sample Size: The study used anonymized retrospective visit data from general practice electronic health record systems for all 440,000 children aged younger than 6 years in the Republic of Ireland.

Age Range: The age range of the study population was children under 6 years old.

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Collaboration with Local Agencies (State), Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), PROFESSIONAL_CAREGIVER, Outreach (caregiver), STATE, Data Collection System

Intervention Description: Florida Covering Kids & Families (FL-CKF) is dedicated to developing outreach methods for enrolling and retaining eligible children in the state’s CHIP. FL-CKP developed a strong data system that allows it to evaluate the effectiveness and success of statewide enrollment and retention efforts. Community and school outreach partners enter data each month on all completed CHIP applications via a secure interface, and data are then transmitted to the state. The data system is an outreach method for enrolling and retaining coverage; it can also monitor outcomes and provide feedback to community outreach partners. Organizations helping uninsured children apply for health insurance may benefit from creating data collection systems to monitor project efficacy and modify outreach and enrollment strategies for greater effectiveness.

Intervention Results: The highest number of application submissions were through outreach at a child’s school or childcare facility, through a community-based organization, or through targeted outreach events. However, even though those strategies resulted in the largest number of application, approval and denial rates show which of these strategies (through a CHIPRA grant partner site or government agency) yielded the highest enrollments. This information can be further stratified by individual project partner to show which strategies are working best in that region. The improved data collection system of Cycle II enables FL-CKF to better monitor the efforts of project partners by tracking monthly progress toward grant deliverable goals.

Conclusion: Organizations helping uninsured children apply for health insurance may benefit from creating data collection systems to monitor project efficacy and modify outreach and enrollment strategies for greater effectiveness.

Study Design: Evaluation assessment

Setting: Community (Community-based organizations and schools in Florida)

Population of Focus: Eligible children in Florida's CHIP

Data Source: Checkbox Survey Solutions data system

Sample Size: 502,866 children in Florida who are uninsured

Age Range: 0-17 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), NATIONAL, Policy/Guideline (National)

Intervention Description: In 2006, Massachusetts passed major health reform legislation, including an individual mandate for adults (who were required to purchase insurance or face a penalty); Medicaid expansion (i.e., children’s eligibility for the state’s Medicaid-CHIP increased from 200 to 300% of the FPL and adult eligibility for Medicaid increased to 100% FPL), and minimum essential benefits for private insurance (e.g., coverage of basic specialty services, no co-pay or deductible for preventive care visits).

Intervention Results: Massachusetts health reform, the model for the ACA, reduced uninsurance and improved access to some types of care for children in the state. Expanding adult-oriented health access policies in MA was associated with a trend toward reduced uninsurance and improved access to specialty care for children overall at 5 years post-reform. For low-income children, health reform was associated with increased access to a personal doctor for children previously Medicaid-eligible and increased access to specialty care for children newly Medicaid-eligible.

Conclusion: Adult-oriented health reforms may have reduced uninsurance and improved access to some types of care for children in Massachusetts. Repealing the ACA may produce modest detriments for children.

Study Design: Quasi-experimental difference-in-difference

Setting: Policy (Data from 2003, 2007, and 2011-2012 waves of the National Survey of Children's Health)

Population of Focus: Families with children in Massachusetts

Data Source: National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH

Sample Size: 5,760 children in the intervention group (MA), 28,183 children in the comparison group (other New England states)

Age Range: 0-17 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), NATIONAL, Policy/Guideline (National), STATE, Prenatal Care Access

Intervention Description: Prenatal care is an important component of preventive health care with multigenerational consequences for women and their families. For low-income immigrant women, Emergency Medicaid, a federal safety net program for those poor enough to qualify for Medicaid but who cannot meet the citizenship requirements, covers the cost of a birth but not prenatal care or postpartum contraception. An “unborn child” option enacted in CHIP and CHIPRA gave states new options to provide prenatal care coverage with federal matching funds for extending coverage to immigrant children and pregnant women, regardless of their legal status or date of entry to the U.S. The study leveraged a natural experiment where unauthorized immigrant women eligible for Emergency Medicaid gained access to prenatal care coverage by the expansion of the Emergency Medicaid Plus program in Oregon.

Intervention Results: Expanding access to prenatal care coverage increased both utilization and quality of prenatal care, and women were more likely to receive adequate care and recommended preventive health services. After expansion of access to prenatal care, there was an increase in prenatal visits (7.2 more visits, 95% CI 6.46 to 7.98), receipt of adequate prenatal care (28% increased rate, CI 26 to 31), rates of diabetes screening (61% increased rate, CI 56 to 65) and fetal ultrasounds (74% increased rate, CI 72 to 77). Maternal access to prenatal care was also associated with an increased number of well-child visits (0.24 more visits, CI 0.07 to 0.41), increased rates of recommended screenings and vaccines, and reduced infant mortality (-1.04 per 1000, CI -1.45 to -0.62) and rates of extremely low birth weight (<1000g) (-1.5 per 1000, CI -2.58 to -0.53).

Conclusion: Our results provide evidence of increased utilization and improved health outcomes for unauthorized immigrants and their children who are United States citizens after introduction of prenatal care expansion in Oregon. This study contributes to the debate around reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program in 2017.

Study Design: Quasi-experimental difference-in-difference

Setting: Policy (Oregon Health Authority)

Population of Focus: Pregnant low-income immigrant women and their infants

Data Source: Medical claims data from January 1, 2003 through October 1, 2015

Sample Size: 210,200 mothers and infants

Age Range: Pregnant women: 12-51 years; Infants: 0-1 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): PAYER, Expanded Insurance Coverage, HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice), NATIONAL, Policy/Guideline (National)

Intervention Description: Dependent coverage expansion (DCE) policies on the state and federal level have been enacted to target the high rates of uninsurance and unique barriers to obtain coverage among adolescents and young adults (AYA). DCE, a component of the ACA, requires private insurance policies that cover dependents to offer coverage for policyholders’ children through age 26. Several states, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine, adopted state DCE policies that extended dependent coverage, with the Massachusetts policy accompanied by other health reforms later incorporated into the ACA, including an individual mandate, a Medicaid expansion, creation of a health insurance exchange with subsidies, and prohibition of pre-existing condition exclusions. State and federal health reforms may modify the effects of a DCE by altering the coverage options and incentives for AYA.

Intervention Results: Findings suggest that an individual mandate and other reforms may enhance the effect of DCE in preventing loss of coverage among AYA. Implementation of DCE with other reforms was significantly associated with a 23% reduction in exit from dependent coverage among AYA compared to the reduction observed for DCE alone. Additionally, comprehensive reforms were associated with over two additional years of dependent coverage for the average AYA and a 33% increase in the odds of regaining dependent coverage after a prior loss. Findings suggest that an individual mandate and other reforms may enhance the effect of DCE in preventing loss of coverage among AYA. The joint effect of these policy levers is also associated with maintenance of dependent coverage until an older age and increased likelihood of regaining dependent coverage after an initial disenrollment. In addition to reductions in the odds of and time to dependent coverage exit, DCE was associated with further coverage gains for AYA in the form of regained dependent coverage.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that an individual mandate and other reforms may enhance the effect of DCE in preventing loss of coverage among AYA.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort with a pre- to post-comparison

Setting: Policy (Insurance consortium in 3 states: Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire)

Population of Focus: Harvard Pilgrim Health Care members who were enrolled continuously as a dependent for at least 1 year between the ages of 16 and 18, from January 2000 to December 2012

Data Source: Enrollment and claims data from Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC), a large not-for-profit health plan with over 1 million members in commercial plans concentrated in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine

Sample Size: 131,542 individuals

Age Range: 16-18 years

Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): STATE, Public Insurance (State), HEALTH_CARE_PROVIDER_PRACTICE, Public Insurance (Health Care Provider/Practice)

Intervention Description: Researchers used data on individuals 12 years of age and older from the Canadian Health Survey to esitmate the marginal effects (ME) of having dental insurance including increased dental attendance.

Intervention Results: Having dental insurance increased the proportion of participants who visited the dentist in the past year (56.6 to 79.4%, ME: 22.8, 95% confidence interval (CI): 20.9–24.7) and who reported very good or excellent oral health (48.3 to 57.9%, ME: 9.6, 95%CI: 7.6–11.5).

Conclusion: Findings suggest that dental insurance is associated with improved dental visiting behaviours and oral health status outcomes. Policymakers could consider universal dental coverage as a means to support financially vulnerable populations and to reduce oral health disparities between the rich and the poor.

Setting: Community

Population of Focus: Children 12 years of age and older