SCHIP in Ohio: Evolution and Outlook for the Future Final rept

摘要

Ohio's Healthy Start program focused on making Medicaid coverage more accessible and consumer-friendly. Already poised to expand poverty-related Medicaid coverage for children when the legislation was enacted in August 1997, Healthy Start began covering children through age 18 with family income up to 150 percent of poverty in January 1998. Ohio further expanded Medicaid coverage in July 2000, raising eligibility to 200 percent of poverty ($36,800 for a family of four in 2003 dollars). Enrollment in Healthy Start has steadily grown over the years, demonstrating the success of Ohio's efforts to make Medicaid more accessible to more children. Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) conducted a week-long site visit to Ohio in September 2002, as part of its national evaluation of State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). To gather information about both state policy and local implementation of Healthy Start, we interviewed state and county Medicaid agency staff, public health officials, child health advocates, front-line eligibility workers, health care providers, and staff of organizations involved in outreach and application assistance in Columbus (the state capitol), Cleveland (Cuyahoga County), and Mansfield (Richland County). In April 2003, MPR convened focus groups in Cleveland and Mansfield with parents of Healthy Start enrollees and disenrollees.