Evaluations

The positive feedback on Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) from parents whose children were enrolled—and the strong desire of almost all parents of uninsured children to enroll their children—attest to the success that states have had in publicizing their public health insurance programs and addressing prevalent concerns associated with them. However, the administrative barriers faced by parents often serve as a deterrent to enrollment and renewal.

Covering Kids & Families efforts aimed to increase enrollment in public health insurance. Evaluators found that both grantees and state officials felt positively about the influence of Covering Kids & Families on Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment processes.

This report describes the level of core advocacy capacity among the leadership teams at the beginning of the Consumer Voices for Coverage (CVC) program, a 12-state initiative funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Covering Kids & Families Access Initiative (CKF-AI) was developed in 2003 to learn more about the variety of access barriers that can prevent meaningful use of insurance coverage even after children and families are formally enrolled. This first phase of the follow-up evaluation was led by Carolyn Needleman, Ph.D., of Social Research Associates.

As Consumer Voices for Coverage began implementation, an assessment of policy-makers’ views was conducted between July and October 2008. Mathematica Policy Research conducted baseline interviews with key policy-makers in each of the 12 CVC states.

To establish alliances that could advance the goals of the Consumer Voices for Coverage (CVC) initiative and outlive it, RWJF required applicants to form a leadership team of partner organizations to mobilize the consumer advocacy network within their states. Mathematica, Inc. designed a survey to collect data about the structure and activities of the leadership teams.

Four focus group discussions were held with Consumer Voices for Coverage (CVC) grantees and leadership team members attending the program’s annual grantee meeting in September 2008.

This evaluation, led by Judith Woodridge of Mathematica Policy Research (MPR), looks at an initiative designed and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to establish state-based consumer health advocacy networks.