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The Hawaii Primary Care Association began the project in 1999 with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation start-up funds. The project's overall accomplishments have been:
- Uninsured children and youths decreased from 7% to 5%;
- Emergency room visits by uninsured children and youths decreased from 5.3% to 3.6%;
- Annual number of uninsured newborns decreased from an average of 520 to 363; and
- Net increase of 28,000 children and youth enrolled in QUEST and Medicaid Fee-for-Service programs.
Simplification
- Worked with Med-QUEST to simplify its general application--published in October 2002--and offer a trimmed version beginning January 2004 for households applying only for children and/or pregnant women.
- Began a passive renewal process for cases with children effective June 2004 using computer-generated prepopulated forms.
- Partnered with a reliable hotline service--Aloha United Way 211--to assist families with information and mail applications to callers.
- Implemented an electronic application through trained outreach workers.
- Organized Hawaii's initiative since March 2006 to implement a new federal Medicaid law requiring additional documentation. All recipients renewing their public health insurance and new applicants must provide proof of citizenship or alien status and photo identification. The Hawaii Covering Kids Process Simplification Task Force made sure all eligible people currently enrolled in QUEST and Medicaid Fee-for Service retained their benefits without going on scavenger hunts and all eligible applicants received their QUEST and Medicaid Fee-for-Service benefits through an efficient process.
Outreach
- Linked with public and private schools, WIC, Head Start, County Department of Parks and Recreation, youth clubs, public housing agencies, and child care centers to inform parents and guardians about free health insurance.
- Implemented a pharmacy outreach campaign from September 2004 to April 2005 through 151 locations on six islands to circulate 129,000 bag stuffers and post flyers.
- Distributed a school lunch referral form netting 6,413 responses.
- Sponsored three major media outreach campaigns--"Kids Health Insurance Week" in August 2001, "Get Teens Covered by Health Insurance" in August 2002, and "March Madness Media Campaign" in March 2007.
- Conducted annual Back-to-School campaigns from 2003-2005.
- Published flyers in twenty languages.
- Sponsored three immigrant media campaigns using radio, print, and television.
- Initiated an Athletes Campaign beginning May 2005 targeting public and private high school students who participate in sports.
Coordination
- Organize annual Malama i na Keiki (Care for the Children) conferences for outreach workers and Med-QUEST eligibility workers.
- Developed and continually updated a procedure guide for outstationed eligibility workers.
- Produced videos on Med-QUEST's programs and instructions for completing its applications.
- Partnered with Med-QUEST to conduct 50 community training workshops teaching 613 participants from 86 organizations on 6 islands how to help eligible families complete Med-QUEST's application and retain their benefits.
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