Appendix A
Workshop on the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
AGENDA
June 19-20, 2001
Background: Legislation authorizing SCHIP was passed by the Congress with strong bipartisan support. State policy makers also welcomed with great enthusiasm this program for expanding health insurance to children. Nonetheless, many states have not been able to enroll sufficient numbers of children to take full advantage of federal funds allocated to their state within the time period allotted. This workshop will present tools for “enrollment success,” which we define as enrolling and retaining a substantial share of the eligible, uninsured children into the SCHIP program, while avoiding enrollment of ineligible children. Given the financial resources that are currently available to expand health insurance to children, it is particularly timely to discuss methods that would help states productively target their enrollment efforts, improve the retention of children in the program, and assess their success in reducing the numbers of uninsured children.
Although it will be important to understand the quality of health care services offered to children enrolled in SCHIP and the effect on their health, a necessary first step is to understand enrollment and retention in the program. Thus, this workshop will focus on the tools that states need to improve outreach, increase retention, and examine the relationships between SCHIP and other state programs.
The meeting will commence at noon on Tuesday, June 19, 2001. The preliminary schedule is as follows:
12:00 – 1:00 |
Buffet Lunch |
1:00 – 1:30 |
Welcome and Introductions |
Arleen Leibowitz, Ph.D., Workshop Chair; Professor and Chair, Department of Policy Studies, University of California, Los Angeles Andrew White, Ph.D., Director, Committee on National Statistics Caroline Taplin, MSPH, and Julia Paradise, MSPH, Senior Policy Analysts, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) |
|
1:30 – 2:45 |
Session I: Background and Program Parameters |
Chair: Robert Valdez, M.P.H., Ph.D., Dean, School of Public Health, MCP Hahnemann University, Philadelphia, and RAND Health Sciences Program, Santa Monica, CA Presenters: Linda Bilheimer, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Title: Data Needs for Tracking Children’s Health Insurance Coverage Vicki Grant, M.S.W., Ph.D., Research Director, Southern Institute on Children and Families, Deputy Director “Covering Kids” and “Supporting Families after Welfare Reform” (both are national projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation [RWJF]) Title: Managing by Eligibility Outcomes Data Discussants: Pamela Paul-Shaheen, Dr.P.H, Director, Center for Advancing Community Health, Okemos, Michigan Title: Covering Michigan’s Kids: Using Information to Inform Policy and Practice |
Mary Alice Lee, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Connecticut Children’s Health Council Title: Connecticut’s HUSKY Program: Using Data to Improve Enrollment and Retention |
|
2:45 – 3:00 |
Break |
3:00 – 5:30 |
Session II: Enrollment |
Chair: Lynn Blewett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota Presenters: Lisa Dubay, Ph.D., Principal Research Associate, The Urban Institute, Washington, DC Title: Assessing CHIP Impacts Using Household Survey Data: Promises and Pitfalls Thomas Selden, Ph.D., U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Title: New and Improved Eligibility Simulation Methodology Using MEPS National Survey Data Discussants: Stephen Norton, M.A., Director of Office of Knowledge and Decision Support, State of New Hampshire – Department of Health and Human Services Gestur Davidson, Ph.D., Health Economist, Minnesota Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Reports and Forecasts |
Wednesday, June 20, 2001 |
|
8:30 |
Continental Breakfast |
9:00 – 10:30 |
Session III: Retention |
Chair: Ian Hill, M.P.A., M.S.W., Senior Research Associate, Health Policy Center, The Urban Institute Presenters: Ian Hill, M.P.A., M.S.W., Senior Research Associate, Health Policy Center, The Urban Institute Title: There’s a Hole in the Bucket . . . Understanding SCHIP Retention Hilary Bellamy, M.P.H., Senior Policy Associate, Health Systems Research, Inc., Washington, DC Title: Exploring Disenrollment from Medicaid and SCHIP through Focus Group Research Denise Holmes, Michigan Department of Community Health Title: Using Data to Focus Outreach, and Improve Enrollment and Retention in Michigan’s SCHIP Program Discussant: Marilyn Ellwood, M.S.W., Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Cambridge, MA |
|
10:30 – 11:00 |
Break |
11:00 – 12:30 |
Session IV: Links to Other Programs |
Chair: Deborah Chollet, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Washington, DC |
Presenters: Genevieve Kenney, Ph.D., Principal Research Associate, The Urban Institute Title: Using Other Government Programs to Reach Uninsured Children David Hanig, M.S.W., Program Manager, Washington Department of Social and Health Services Title: Nutrition & Health: Matching Data from Two Systems Robert Gellman, J.D., Privacy and Information Policy Consultant Title: Will Computer Matching Law Affect SCHIP? Discussant: Heidi J. Smith, R.N., M.S.N., Executive Director, New Jersey FamilyCare |
|
12:30 – 1:30 |
Lunch |
1:30 – 3:00 |
Session V: Implications for Federal and State Data Collection |
Chair: Caroline Taplin, MSPH, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, DHHS Panelists: Lynn Blewett, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota Kristen Testa, M.H.S., Health Program Director Children’s Partnership, Sacramento, CA Cynthia Shirk, M.Ed., Acting Director, Division of State Children’s Health Insurance, Family and Children’s Health Programs Group, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, CMS |