Share Grantee Newsletter August 2009

SHARE Grantee Newsletter — August 10, 2009

NEWS FROM GRANTEES SHARE Findings Presented at SCI’s Annual Meeting 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 to discuss 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 presentation, “Innovative Strategies to Enroll Eligible People into Medicaid and CHIP.”

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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, “Maryland’s Kids First Act: Using Tax Forms to Identify Medicaid/SCHIP-Eligible Children,” click here.

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Hilltop Institute Research Analyst Asher Mikow, along with Insure New Mexico Bureau Chief Mari Spaulding-Bynon, 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.

In addition to the above presentations, SHARE Deputy Director Elizabeth Lukanen presented an overview of SHARE, highlighted some preliminary findings from various SHARE projects, and discussed 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.

SHARE NEWS SHADAC Releases Companion Issue Briefs on Race, Ethnicity and Immigration Measurement in Federal Surveys SHARE’s parent organization, SHADAC, has released two issue briefs as a resource for those who are conducting surveys or using federal survey data for policy research. These briefs are intended to assist researchers and analysts at the state and federal level with survey development and/or the analysis of existing survey data to estimate health insurance coverage and access to care for disparities populations. The first issue brief, "Measurement of Race, Ethnicity, and Immigrant Groups in Federal Surveys," discusses the collection and classification of survey data for populations defined by race, ethnicity and immigrant status. The companion issue brief, "Data Availability for Race, Ethnicity, and Immigrant Groups in Federal Surveys," discusses availability of these data in public use data files. Click here to view the measurement brief, or click here to view the brief about data availability. RWJF Health Care Consumer Confidence Index Releases Results for June As discussion of federal health reform heats up, the new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Care Consumer Confidence Index (RWJF Index) has issued its second monthly snapshot of how adults in the United States perceive their financial access to health care. Researchers at SHADAC have been involved in the survey question design and index development, as well as the monthly data analysis. The inaugural RWJF Index was released in mid-June and featured both baseline data and the change as measured in May. The second set of results covers June 2009 and can be viewed here. The RWJF Index is a new research venture for SHADAC, which has typically focused on research from the state perspective. However, the Index is relevant to SHADAC’s and SHARE’s mixed audience of health policy analysts, health services researchers, and policy makers. The Index provides an indicator of the health access concerns of the American people, asking people about recent health care barriers as well as concerns for the future, such as worries about losing insurance coverage or being able to pay for health care expenses. The Index is a unique measure for access to health care and is structurally similar to other consumer confidence indices. This is an opportune time for the creation of the RWJF Index, given current developments in federal reform: The baseline data for the index was established prior to major federal health reform legislation, so the index will provide a measure to use in monitoring reform, should legislation pass at the federal level. This information will contribute to the evaluation of federal reform initiatives. SHADAC will update the Index in the third week of each month using the previous month’s data. If Americans are feeling good about their health care, the RWJF Index will go up. However, if Americans are becoming more worried, the index will go down. The RWJF Index, along with detailed methodology and results, is available at www.rwjf.org/confidence.

SHARE Issue Briefs to Be Released As SHARE grantees continue to release preliminary findings, SHARE will be publishing the findings as formal issue briefs. Check the SHARE website to stay updated about these publications, or click here to join the SHARE e-mail list to be notified when briefs are available.

STATE HEALTH REFORM NEWS Oregon Governor Signs Bill Expanding Coverage for Children On August 4, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed the “Healthy Kids” bill, expanding insurance coverage for the state’s children. Through a 1% assessment on insurers and a 2.8% assessment on large hospitals, the legislation will extend coverage to an estimated 80,000 Oregon children currently without insurance. Children up to age 19 with family income between 200% and 300% FPL will be eligible to receive premium assistance toward coverage through one of two insurance models: a costshare model with employers, called the Oregon Health Plan, or a newly-created statesponsored private insurance model. Children in families above 300% FPL will be able to buy into the private plan at the full, unsubsidized cost. In addition to expanding coverage for children, Oregon’s new legislation creates the Oregon Health Plan (OHP) Standard, a limited-benefit insurance option for the state’s estimated 60,000 childless adults with incomes below 100% FPL. The bill also simplifies the application and enrollment processes for state coverage and requires enhanced outreach to children in under-served communities. Click here for further details about Oregon’s Healthy Kids legislation (House Bill 2116). Connecticut Passes SustiNet Legislation with Veto Override On July 21, the Connecticut General Assembly overturned the veto of Governor Jodi Rell to pass universal healthcare legislation. The bill (HB-6600) creates a nine-member board charged with designing a universal healthcare system, called SustiNet, for the state and requires that the board make recommendations to lawmakers by January 1, 2011. The system is intended to cover nearly all of Connecticut's 3.5 million people—300,000 of whom are estimated to be without coverage—with a scheduled start date of July 1, 2012. Connecticut is the fourth state to move forward with universal healthcare, joining the ranks of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Maine. Connecticut’s universal healthcare system will be built around a public option, created via a large health insurance pool that combines state employees with Medicaid recipients. Once the initial pool is established, it will be expanded to include small businesses and any uninsured residents of the state. Enrollees will then have access to the same health benefits available to state employees. The bill passed on the July 21 does not include an individual mandate, but it does direct the board in charge of designing the state system to explore this option. Details beyond this, including a funding mechanism for the system, have yet to be determined. Additionally, the actual creation of a public plan, based on the recommendation of the board, will require another vote in the General Assembly.

To view the text of Connecticut House Bill Number 6600, click here.

GRANTEE ACTION ITEMS Don’t Forget to RSVP for SHARE Roundtable at NASHP Annual Meeting SHARE will host a lunch roundtable during the closing session of the NASHP annual meeting on Wednesday, October 7, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 pm. We will use this opportunity to present findings from SHARE-sponsored research. If you plan to attend the conference, please contact Elizabeth Lukanen ([email protected]) so that we can coordinate the discussion.

SEND US YOUR NEWS! If you have news items that you would like SHARE to highlight, please send them to Caroline Au-Yeung at [email protected]. SHARE is a National Program Office funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund, synthesize and disseminate evaluations of state health reform. Periodically, SHARE will send a newsletter outlining upcoming events, grantee activities and updates on our funded projects. For more information, visit SHARE's web site, www.statereformevaluation.org. If you wish to be removed from the SHARE mailing list, click here.