This Framework lays out, step by step, how eligibility, enrollment, and retention should work for consumers so that California can meet the expectations of the Affordable Care Act. While developed for California, this Framework can be used in any state to help stakeholders focus on the elements that matter most for consumers. It is designed to be a practical resource for decision-makers as they work to achieve our shared goal: a simple, efficient door into health care in California that works well for its consumers.
California is poised to make great progress, and has an opportunity to leverage the tremendous potential of information technology to improve health and wellness outcomes for vulnerable populations, particularly children and youth living in foster care. Recent technology and policy developments have created an environment in which it is possible to transform the delivery of care by linking systems, programs, and providers, allowing decision-makers efficient access to the information necessary to provide comprehensive care to the whole child. Building on two previous reports, this issue brief summarizes the potential for electronic information exchange to enhance care coordination and improve outcomes, highlights current efforts at the state and local level to achieve these results, and raises a few policy issues that, if resolved, would facilitate movement toward the goal of appropriate information exchange between programs and providers to serve vulnerable youth.
This issue brief examines how mobile technology can be used to advance coverage goals. The report focuses especially on the capacity of mobile technology to reach and expand health coverage among traditionally underserved communities, who have less broadband access to the Internet at home. It discusses the potential of mobile devices to function as outreach tools and as a new means of applying for and renewing coverage, as well as submitting forms, receiving reminders, and paying premiums. The brief also highlights key challenges to maximizing the potential of mobile technology in this sphere and policy steps that could help to address them.
The success of the Affordable Care Act in achieving near-universal health coverage will depend on the effectiveness of the enrollment and renewal processes that states put in place. The law establishes the expectation that systems should enroll individuals with the minimum possible burden and handle transitions seamlessly.
This brief, published in partnership with the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, explains the key enrollment-related provisions of the health reform law, discusses the elements of an enrollment system that would comply with the law’s requirements, and offers strategies — and examples — of how to achieve such a system.
With a quickly approaching 2014 deadline, states must begin working together with federal agencies and stakeholders to put critical policies and systems in place. As states address the immediate challenge of designing and building an Exchange, coordination with Medicaid and CHIP at all points in the enrollment process—from application at the front-end, to data retrieval and verification at the back end—is a fundamental organizing principle.
Empowering Parents Through Technology
Computers and broadband are becoming essential tools to help parents engage in their children’s education which can improve their academic achievement and lives. This issue brief addresses ways to ensure more parents and caregivers have access to technology tools and the skills to use them effectively. It discusses the connections between schools and families, how technology reinforces existing connections and constructs new ones and how this benefits children, especially those who are underserved by the existing education system. Finally, this issue brief outlines an Empowering Parents Through Technology Action Plan that serves as a roadmap for achieving these goals.
Empowering Parents Through Technology has been used in the development and design of the Educate California programs and initiatives.
The new health reform law will require most U.S. citizens and legal residents to have health coverage by 2014. It provides new options for coverage by expanding Medicaid eligibility to more low-income people and creating a state-based system of health insurance exchanges through which individuals can purchase coverage, with federal subsidies for many.
Published in partnership with the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, this brief and accompanying explanatory chart summarize key requirements that states face under health reform to construct coordinated and consumer-friendly enrollment systems that help people understand their coverage options, and that use electronic data-matching and online processes to minimize the burdens of application and renewal, create a “no wrong door” system, ensure that people obtain the appropriate coverage, and support seamless transitions between Medicaid, CHIP, and subsidized coverage in the Exchanges.
States will need to begin planning and developing their policies, procedures, and systems right away to be prepared for 2014.
The need for efficient and effective coordination of care to adequately serve children living in foster care is broadly acknowledged by experts in the field. This Roadmap describes how information technology and the electronic exchange of information can be used as a powerful tool to improve the coordination of care and provision of services for children living in foster care in California.
After presenting alternative models for an electronic system that facilitates information sharing between providers in the foster care system, and considering the technical, financial, and political opportunities that exist for moving this effort forward, this Roadmap recommends concrete steps that the State and other key stakeholders can take toward improving outcomes for children in foster care through the use of information technology.
In the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA), Congress gave states significant flexibility to design and build Express Lane Eligibility (ELE) enrollment and retention initiatives that meet their unique needs. As a result, in designing an ELE initiative, states face a number of key decision points. Published in partnership with the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, this brief provides an overview and discussion of those key decisions.
This issue brief outlines how telehealth—the use of technology to provide health services at a distance—in schools is emerging as a valuable way to complement and expand the capacity of schools to meet the health care needs of children, particularly those who are low-income and living in medically underserved areas. This brief is a blueprint for action—laying out practical steps—to help California state and community leaders make real the promise of school-based telehealth to improve health outcomes for children.
Published in partnership with the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, this brief provides an overview of ELE and identifies the potential benefits of implementing an ELE initiative.