The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #38654

Sharon Pomeroy¹, Luanne Francis, MPH¹, Phyllis Landry², and Tiffany Pennick, MPH¹. (1) Covering Kids Initiative, Agenda For Children, 1539 Jackson Avenue, Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70130, (2) Family Voices of Louisiana, 1539 Jackson Avenue, Suite 200, New Orleans, LA 70130

The Consumer Access Hotline is a statewide resource for individuals enrolled in Medicaid. This project is facilitated by Covering Kids at Agenda For Children and Family Voices of Louisiana, Incorporated in New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose of the hotline is to strengthen the capacity of consumers to navigate the network of Medicaid services. The hotline is designed to meet three primary objectives: 1) to educate Medicaid enrollees about the Louisiana health care system, 2) to assist individuals in connecting to Medicaid funded services through resource referral, 3) to identify barriers that individuals on Medicaid commonly experience when accessing services. The Consumer Access Hotline is a nine-month project that fosters the collaboration between consumers and the health care industry. In conjunction with the calls from the hotline, data is also collected via consumer focus groups (five in total) and the Consumer Access Hotline Committee. The committee is made up of representatives from Medicaid, the Covering Kids coalition, Family Voices of Louisiana, Inc., consumers, physicians, allied health professionals and others, and is used to guide the implementation and evaluation of the hotline. Many of the problems documented include provider referral assistance, transition assistance from child to adult Medicaid services, and overall understanding of Medicaid programs and services. Information regarding specific parishes has also been documented. Information collected will also be used for administrative and legislative policy reform in the later stages of the project.

Learning Objectives: Individuals attending this poster session will learn to

• Identifying barriers experienced by Medicaid consumers throughout the state of Louisiana, which may be similar in other states.
• Assess local Medicaid and managed health care systems in order to make them more "consumer friendly".
• Discuss legislative and policy reform measures which may be used in other states in order to help the Medicaid consumer navigate through the system with greater ease.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.