Now that Massachusetts offers health insurance to all children under age 19 regardless of immigration status or family income, the Mayor's Health Line at the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) is engaged in a campaign to insure every child in Boston and link them to primary care. A key component of the Insuring the Future Campaign is using the Boston school system to identify and enroll families with uninsured children in health insurance. The BPHC and the Boston Public Schools (BPS) have identified four methods to accomplish this: 1) screen families during the school registration process and providing direct assistance with enrollment forms; 2) provide enrollment assistance to families of students registered with the BPHC's school-based health centers, 25% of whom are uninsured. 3) train public and parochial school nurses around recent insurance expansions and include insurance status information on medical forms; and 4) investigate utilizing school lunch program applications for identifying and enrolling families in a health insurance program.
Data collected through a pilot program demonstrates that the school system is an effective means of reaching uninsured families with children. BPHC outreach workers found that 13% of children in families surveyed during school enrollment were uninsured; 44% of these families were assisted on site with applications and all families received on-going follow-up.
Outcome measures by September 2000 include: 50% reduction in uninsured children at school-based health centers; enrollment of 90% eligible children in families receiving services at BPS; and a linked school lunch/health insurance application.
Learning Objectives: Participants will describe and assess the elements for a city-wide initiative to guarantee access for all children and evaluate for inclusion as best practice
Keywords: Access, Children and Adolescents
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.