August 5, 2009. State Coverage Initiatives (SCI) hosted its annual meeting for state officials last week in Albuquerque, NM. The purpose of the meeting was to inform state officials about health reform efforts in other states and about the potential impact of federal reforms on state activities. Preliminary results from several SHARE studies were featured at the meeting:
Stan Dorn, Senior Research Associate at the Urban Institute, discussed Massachusetts' effort to simplify its eligibility determination process. Stan described this process as "streamlined to the nth degree," and noted major gains in both administrative efficiency and in public health insurance enrollment.
Click here to view Stan's SCI presentation, "Innovative Strategies to Enroll Eligible People into Medicaid and CHIP."
Chuck Milligan, Executive Director of The Hilltop Institute, presented findings from David Idala's evaluation of Maryland's Kids First Act. In his presentation, titled "Innovative Strategies to Enroll Eligible People into Medicaid and SCHIP," Chuck discussed what has been learned from Maryland's use of tax forms to identify and enroll Medicaid/SCHIP-eligible children and made several recommendations regarding the future use of this strategy.
To view the slides from this presentation, click here.
Asher Mikow, Research Analyst at The Hilltop Institute, along with Mari Spaulding-Bynon, Bureau Chief of Insure New Mexico, presented findings from Anna Sommers' evaluation of New Mexico's State Coverage Insurance initiative. Asher and Mari discussed the various factors that influenced small employers' decisions about participating in this three-share insurance program.
To view the slides from Asher's presentation, "Evaluating Small Group Employer Participation in New Mexico's State Coverage Insurance Program," click here.
SHARE Deputy Director Elizabeth Lukanen also presented at SCI, giving an overview of SHARE, highlighting some preliminary findings from various SHARE projects, and discussing the importance of evaluations in the policy process. Click here to view slides from Elizabeth's presentation, "State Health Access Reform Evaluation: Building the Evidence for Reform."
Click here for a link to the full SCI meeting agenda.