title: Can private companies contribute to public programs' outreach efforts? Evidence from California.
abstract: We studied an innovative outreach effort in California, which trains and certifies community organizations to help complete Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) applications. In this paper we provide a detailed description of participating organizations, the populations they serve, and their success at turning submitted applications into enrollments. We found that insurance brokers and income tax preparers-for-profit groups that are not typically associated with outreach-make important contributions to Medicaid and SCHIP in California. Brokers, in particular, help serve a hard-to-reach population: those on the higher end of the income eligibility thresholds.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. mireille@uci.edu
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: Thomas C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Buchmueller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000385:Aid to Families with Dependent Children / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002140:California; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020380:Needs Assessment; D017149:Private Sector; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States