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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Firoozeh Molaparast Vali, PhD, Research Department, New Jersey Hospital Association/HRET, 760 Alexander Road, Princeton, NJ 08543, 609-275-4146, fvali@njha.com and Jennifer Barrett, MHA, Research Department, New Jersey Hospital Association, 760 Alexander Road, Princeton, NJ 08543.

Covering Kids and Families Project in New Jersey was part of a national program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with the goal of maximizing enrollment of eligible uninsured children in public health insurance programs (Medicaid or NJ FamilyCare) through extensive outreach and application assistance, community outreach worker training, program advocacy, simplification of application/renewal processes and coordination of social service programs. The four-year project operated through a statewide coalition of over 60 state and community-based organizations that provide services to children and families or advocate for them. The project trained more than 1,500 community outreach workers; offered statewide and regional conferences, application assistance and enrollment events; and facilitated significant simplifications in enrollment policies and procedures. By the end of the project, about 510,000 children were enrolled in Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare. This study assesses the impacts of these activities on the number of uninsured children in New Jersey, access of children to primary care and overall children's health outcomes, including reduced rate of pediatric hospitalizations for certain ambulatory care sensitive conditions such as asthma, diabetes and ear infections, earlier use of prenatal care, reduced rates for low birth weight, increased gestational age and improved APGAR score. It is hypothesized that having access to healthcare coverage improves these health indicators, which were collected from Electronic Birth Certificate and hospital discharge data systems. Findings are communicated to advocacy groups and policymakers to ensure that the necessary steps will be taken to ensure the goals and objectives of this project are sustained.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to

• Portray the landscape of uninsured children in New Jersey.
• Describe the Covering Kids and Families Project, its scope of activities and roles in reducing the number of uninsured children.
• Outline the accomplishments of project activities.
• Describe project’s evaluation design and implementation plan.
• Report the major findings of the study.
• Discuss the implications of the findings and the next necessary steps to ensure the goals and activities of the project are sustained.

Keywords: Medicaid, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No