Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115130

Annette L. Gardner, PhD, MPH, Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 265, San Francisco, CA 94143, (415) 514-1543, algard@itsa.ucsf.edu, Marian Mulkey, MPH, MPP, California HealthCare Foundation, 496 Ninth Street, Oakland, CA 94607, and Patricia Mintz, MBA, Health Care Consulting, 41 Knoll Ridge Way, Oakland, CO 94619.

In 2003, the California HealthCare Foundation launched Step by Step, a funding initiative to increase the capacity of local organizations to expand health care insurance coverage for uninsured Californians. There has been significant activity at the local level in the last 5 years such as Santa Clara's Healthy Kids program, to expand coverage to the uninsured in California. The Step by Step program goals are: 1) foster development and implementation of local coverage programs; 2) encourage efforts to improve and streamline enrollment in local and state coverage programs; and, 3) increase the number of insured Californians. This presentation describes the results from the evaluation of eleven programs funded to either plan or implement a coverage expansions in 2004. Six projects focused on expanding coverage for youth. Five projects focused on expanding coverage for adults. In addition to describing Step by Step program outcomes more broadly, we describe grantee outcomes such as funding secured and number enrolled. We also describe the SBS approach and the resources provided to grantees to increase their technical expertise in designing an insurance program. Last, we discuss the barriers and facilitating factors, and the implications for policymakers and funders.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants will increase their knowledge of diverse local strategies to expand health insurance coverage to uninsured populations
• Participants will learn about a flexible funding opportunity that provides technical assistance to grantees
• Participants will learn about the barriers and opportunities for expanding coverage at the local level, as well as the potential for replicating these programs elsewhere

Keywords: Insurance, Access to Health Care

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.