As I see it: Foundation, LAUSD team up to promote health coverage options 

Ankeny Minoux is president of the Foundation for Health Coverage Education. The foundation’s Web site, www.coverageforall.org, and U.S. Uninsured Help Line get an average of 70,000 queries per month from people seeking health coverage options.

Educators, school nurses, administrators and school board members know only too well the impact that illness has on a student when he or she doesn’t have access to a doctor. While statistics show children with health coverage do better in school than those without, access to no-cost or low-cost health insurance can be daunting for families who are unsure if they qualify or where to apply. At the same time, studies also show that of the 46 million uninsured people in the U.S., one-third are eligible for public programs but don’t know it or are not signed up.

To this end, the Los Angeles Unified School District, working with the Foundation for Health Coverage Education, took steps this past academic year to make access to coverage easier for a growing percentage of uninsured families among its 700,000 students. LAUSD and the nonprofit organization created an umbrella program that provided tools for LAUSD’s 600 school nurses to help maximize use of government health insurance programs for students and their families.

Through the district’s Children’s Health Access and Medi-Cal Program, enrollment services help school nurses educate parents about government options by using the new Health Care Options Matrix, a unique chart that identifies a multiple listing of plan options and online application access to coverage.

To reach out to families through its student population, the school district and the foundation have armed the district’s school nurses with the new tool to maximize use of government coverage programs for children.

The matrix was presented at the school district’s annual School Nurse Opening Day program, held in downtown Los Angeles in September 2008, along with a rousing speech discussing ways the district was helping the nurses to make headway with the problems of uninsured students.

Funding for the design and printing of 65,000 copies of LAUSD’s customized version of the matrix was provided through a $50,000 grant from the Anthem Blue Cross Foundation, a founding sponsor of the Foundation for Health Coverage Education.

“Students with access to health care do better in school,” said Sharon Swonger, CHAMP coordinator. “Through our school nurses and health personnel, we have helped to demystify the process and increase enrollment numbers into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families and other publicly funded programs available to students.”

Health care experts agree that citizens in general have little information as to where to go or how to qualify for government-sponsored health coverage. For example, many parents are surprised to find that a family of four can make up to $66,000 a year and qualify for government-sponsored coverage for its children. For this reason the foundation, in working with L.A. Unified’s school nurses, feels it has found a significant inroad for reaching families in need.

Throughout the school year, the matrix has been distributed to a variety of district outreach outlets, such as after-school programs like Beyond the Bell. In these settings, the matrix helps to serve as an important reference guide for school nurses, health and human services providers and counselors and teachers who have contact with parents and can give them valuable information about health insurance resources.

With its primary focus to educate an estimated 15 million people—one-third of the 46 million uninsured Americans—who are eligible for government plans but don’t know it, the foundation’s collaboration with CHAMP supports academic achievement and promotes wellness by enrolling children and youth into health insurance programs. Under the Division of Student Health and Human Services, CHAMP provides information to parents and district staff on free or low-cost health insurance options. To use these services, students and family members can call a toll-free help line. Parents can call for information and enrollment assistance. The CHAMP staff speaks English, Spanish and Korean.

Tools school districts can use

While LAUSD took the extra step to customize the foundation’s matrix and incorporate it into the services its CHAMP program provides, any school district can utilize these foundation offerings:

• The U.S. Uninsured Help Line (800-234-1317) provides live, one-on-one assistance and is staffed 24/7 with friendly information specialists and interpreters who speak multiple languages, provide basic screening for both public and private health coverage, help callers identify their potential options and connect them to health coverage representatives to sign up for coverage.
• The foundation’s Web site (www.coverageforall.org) has captured more than 175 government-sponsored programs to help people in need of health coverage; it also has a five-question eligibility quiz they can take online.
• The Health Care Options Matrix (available for all 50 states) outlines public and private health coverage options, including type of coverage, eligibility and monthly costs. The brochure is also useful for front-line workers such as social workers or health care professionals who are helping the uninsured find coverage; it can be downloaded by going to www.coverageforall.org.