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

Abstract #120521

Hilary Frazer, MPH and Liane Wong, DrPH. Institute for Health Policy Solutions-California, 155 Bovet Road, Suite 525, San Mateo, CA 94402, 562-595-7669, hfrazer@ihps-ca.org

To achieve a healthier California, policymakers and the public must improve the health of the state's youngest and most vulnerable residents. Access to comprehensive and affordable health coverage is an important determinant of children's health and the health of the broader community. Yet even with recent gains in health coverage for California's children, approximately 800,000 kids remain uninsured in 2003, with 55% eligible but not enrolled in the state's Medicaid and SCHIP programs and 45% ineligible for existing programs.

California counties have responded by expanding health coverage and creating systems change for children and families through the Children's Health Initiative (CHI) model. Santa Clara County launched the first CHI in 2001 with a diverse mix of public financing and private foundation support. Nine counties have implemented CHIs and at least another 20 localities are embarking on similar programs. To date, CHIs have enrolled more than 75,000 children in their Healthy Kids programs using local revenue sources to secure external matching premium support, and enrolled many more children in the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families programs. Together, they have established a vision of health coverage for all children in California. The next generation of innovators is cultivating new approaches that reflect local conditions while navigating the challenges encountered by the first generation of CHIs. California's CHIs exemplify the power of communities to create local health system change and expand coverage to the uninsured. Their successes at the local level should be harnessed to stimulate innovation at the state level and beyond.

Learning Objectives:

• Increase participants' knowldge of local efforts to expand health insurance to children in California

Keywords: Access and Services,

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.