Date of Award

Spring 5-31-2005

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Abstract

There are approximately 51,000 children between the ages of birth to age 18 years that reside in Yolo County. It is estimated that approximately 28,000 live in homes where the family's combined annual income is at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Line (FPL). Of that, approximately 3,605 are uninsured and may be eligible for existing public health programs. It is also estimated that 2,400 (66%) of the uninsured qualify for existing public health programs and that 1,200 (3 3 %) do not qualify due to other factors such as immigration or income that exceeds current eligibility requirements.

Through the leadership of Yolo County Children and Families Commission, a local children's health coalition composed of over 30 public and private business leaders was created with its primary mission to create access to quality healthcare for Yolo County children. After examining many different models to improve access to healthcare, the coalition choose Healthy Kids insurance program. Healthy Kids was initially created through a similar coalition in Santa Clara County. Whereby, an insurance product was created to cover children who did not qualify for existing public health programs but were low-income and uninsured. This paper examines whether offering a Healthy Kids insurance product to parents in Yolo County will be perceived by parents to increase access to healthcare for children in Yolo County.

Primary data was collected through a questionnaire in which parents of children birth to age 18, that are currently uninsured, are at or below 300% of the FPL, and who do not qualify for existing public health programs where asked a series of questions pertaining to the correlation between being enrolled in a Healthy Kids insurance program and improved access to healthcare. Overwhelmingly, over eighty percent of parents perceived that Healthy Kids insurance product would improve their children's access to healthcare services in Yolo County.

Download

Share

COinS