Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County is a program of the Health Improvement Partnership (HIP) and is a coalition of some two dozen community partners who are working together to improve the health and well-being of local children.

The coalition is dedicated to improving access to health care by working to cover all Santa Cruz County children. Since 2004, Healthy Kids has enrolled over 15,000 local children into Healthy Kids, Medi-Cal and Healthy Families coverage programs.

Our strategies include:

Partnering with the County Health Services Agency, County Human Services Department, First 5 and the Central California Alliance for Health, Healthy Kids helps maintain an extensive network of Certified Application Assitors (CAAs) who provide targeted outreach and enrollment services.

The CAAs are situated at schools, clinics and community centers throughout the County and are able to streamline and expedite complex enrollment processes so children are efficiently enrolled in a program for which they are eligible.

Working through the CAAs, Healthy Kids enrolls children into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, existing public programs for low income children. Families earning less than 250% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or about $51,600 are eligible.

Healthy Kids also raises funds necessary to provide health coverage to an additional 2,000 local children who are ineligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. Healthy Kids covers children from families who earn up to 300% FPL or about $60,000 for a family of four.

A Vision for Our Children and Our Community

The mission of Healthy Kids is to improve the health and well-being of low-income children by providing them with health insurance, thereby ensuring access to comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and mental health services.

A healthy child has a greater chance of growing up to be a healthy adult.

Why Health Insurance?

Health insurance makes both medical and fiscal sense. Uninsured children are five times more likely to be treated in an Emergency Room, the only alternative for the uninsured - and the most expensive.

In contrast, health insurance links families to a primary care physician, reducing the need for costly Emergency Room visits, which are ultimately paid for by consumers and taxpayers. Preventive care saves money by remedying minor problems before they become urgent and expensive.

Two main strategies:

We efficiently enroll children into Medi-Cal and Healthy Families (government-funded programs) through a network of bilingual outreach workers who streamline the application process at schools, clinics, and resource centers.

We launched a new, locally-funded health plan -the Healthy Kids Health Plan-to cover children who are ineligible for Healthy Families or Medi-Cal.

Barriers to Insurance

Health insurance programs for children are cobbled together from several different programs relative to a child's age, family income, and residency status.

Complex enrollment processes are difficult to navigate. Many working families simply don't qualify. Others don't understand the complicated eligibility standards.

The result leaves too many children uninsured, which compromises their chance to achieve a healthy, productive future.

The Solution: Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County

Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County is a Health Plan initially made possible by local government and other agency funding.

It provides comprehensive medical, vision, and dental care, timely vaccinations, mental health and in- and out-patient hospital visits.

Modeled after similar, pioneering programs in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco Counties, the Plan is endorsed by the Medical Society of Santa Cruz County and leading physicians.

Thanks to the community-wide coalition lead by local health care and other leaders, uninsured children in Santa Cruz County are now efficiently linked to a primary care physician and have a medical home via health insurance.

Whether children come from families who are homeless or from single-parent households that struggle to survive on minimum wage, they will have access to the basic health care they need and deserve.

Healthy Kids' Results as of March 31, 2009

Increased Enrollment

Since 2004, we have covered over 15,000 children in the locally funded Healthy Kids program, as well as in Healthy Families and Medi-Cal.

For more information on enrollment activities, see our Enrollment Statistics

Increased Access and Cost Savings

While evaluations of Healthy Kids programs in other counties have shown our model increases access, improves parent confidence, and reduces missed school days, Santa Cruz County-specific evaluations show:

1. Well Child visits for 3 to 6-year olds increased by more than 18% since 2005, putting our program above the 90th percentile for national Medicaid standards. [1]
2. Adolescent Well Care increased by over 15% since 2005 (putting us just under Medicaid's 90th percentile) a strong performance in an age group that is typically resistant of any kind of preventative care. [2]
3. Data for Children's Access to Primary Care Practitioner and Outpatient Visits per Thousand Member Months show that Healthy Kids members are making good use of primary care services; they are assigned to a medical home and are utilizing it. This is also evidenced by relatively low acute visits (ED and Inpatient). [3]
4. Over 70% of 4-6 year olds are receiving an annual dental check-up. [4]
5. According to a 2008 study by USC, between 2000 and 2005, Santa Cruz, along with eight other California counties operating a Healthy Kids program, showed a 25% reduction in preventable hospitalizations per year. Thus, 1,050 hospitalizations were prevented annually for asthma, bacterial pneumonia, gastroenteritis and dehydration and other events. This resulted in collective cost savings of over $7 million per year. [5]

Increased Local Investment

Since our launch in 2004, Santa Cruz County has secured over $13 million for the Healthy Kids program. Of that, over $10 million has been contributed by local County sources.

Annual leadership support has been provided by our County's Board of Supervisors and our local First 5 Commission.

We've also received consistent - and growing - support from local foundations, hospitals, individuals and businesses who increasingly view Healthy Kids as a community asset which is having a direct impact on the health and well-being of local children.

[1] 2007 HEDIS evaluation, Central California Alliance for Health
[2], [3] 2007 HEDIS
[4] Michael R. Cousineau, DrPH, Gregory Stevens, PHD - "Preventable Hospitalizations Among children in California Counties after Child Health Insurance Expansion Initiatives," Medical Care, February 2008.