Outreach and Identification Strategies
Many states have proactive strategies to reach out to families and enroll them in publicly funded insurance programs. These strategies include:
• Screening for insurance status on applications for free school lunch programs;
• Partnering with hospitals, emergency rooms and clinics;
• Simplifying application forms and related administrative procedures.
As described under the section on Parent and Peer Navigators, the Family-to-Family Health Information Centers (F2F HICs) are also important vehicles for outreach in many states. Run by and for families of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN), and funded by grants from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the F2F HICs provide information about health care choices, help identify successful service delivery models and encourage collaboration between families, and health care providers.
Above and beyond these strategies several states have taken extra steps to reach out to and identify CYSHCN for health care coverage.
Recognizing that many migrant children are missed by traditional outreach programs, Washington State’s Medicaid program has partnered with the state Department of Education, visiting schools that provide migrant education and training school staff to enroll children in health care coverage.
New Hampshire and North Carolina have taken steps to identify CYSHCN at the point of application for publicly funded health care coverage. New Hampshire’s Medicaid application form includes a question about special needs, and families who respond that they have CYSHCN are then contacted by New Hampshire Family Voices (with the family’s permission). Family Voices offers support and guidance, explaining the Medicaid program and letting families know where they can go for services, advice and assistance.
North Carolina uses the Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener (5 questions used to identify CYSHCN on the National Surveys of Children’s Health and of Children with Special Health Care Needs) as part of its brief Medicaid and CHIP application. This information becomes part of an eligibility file. The CCNC networks share a robust informatics center that utilizes chart audit, claims and enrollment data to identify high risk children that would benefit from care management interventions.
