What Parents Say About the Los Angeles Healthy Kids Program

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Abstract

A series of focus groups with parents of children enrolled in the Los Angeles County Healthy Kids program found that the program is providing families with a highly valued service in the form of comprehensive health insurance coverage, permitting their children easier access to care, making health services more affordable, and increasing options for where and when to obtain care. The groups explored parents' feelings about and experiences with Healthy Kids, which extends coverage to uninsured children from birth through age 18 in families with income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level who are ineligible for Medicaid or SCHIP.

Introduction

Parents of children enrolled in Los Angeles Healthy Kids overwhelmingly place a very high value on the health insurance program. Unanimously these parents, who participated in a series of focus groups, say that Healthy Kids provides them with "peace of mind," "security," and "assurance" and that the coverage has afforded their children easier access to care, made health services dramatically more affordable, and increased parents' options for where and when to obtain care.

Background

Since July 2003, nearly 45,000 children in Los Angeles County have gained health insurance coverage through the Healthy Kids program. The program targets uninsured children through age 18 in families with incomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level who are ineligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. The Healthy Kids design includes such features as intensive community-based outreach and enrollment assistance; comprehensive coverage of preventive, primary, and specialty care benefits, including dental and vision services; a prepaid capitated service delivery system organized under the L.A. Care Health Plan and structured around widespread and experienced safety-net providers; and a system of income-related premiums and copayments through which participating families subsidize a portion of the cost of their coverage.

The Healthy Kids Program Evaluation was launched in May 2004 to carefully document and assess the implementation and impacts of the program. As part of this effort, focus groups were conducted in spring 2005 to explore parents' feelings about and experiences with Healthy Kids and to learn how, and how well, the program is meeting families' needs. A total of 86 parents participated in 12 focus groups, convened in five of the county's largest service planning areas. Half the groups were conducted with parents of Healthy Kids enrollees, and three groups each were conducted with parents of children in Medi-Cal and parents of uninsured children to provide a basis for comparison and to learn more about how well public programs are integrated. Each group explored a broad range of critical issues, including parents' views of outreach, enrollment, and renewal; access to various types of care; the affordability of cost sharing; and overall opinions of Healthy Kids and suggestions for improvement.

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Disclaimer: The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.