 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Cynthia Marie Saunders, PhD, MPH, Health Care Adminstration, California State University, Long Beach, 1250 Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach, CA 90840, 562-985-1962, csaunder@csulb.edu
The purpose of this proposal is to assess the quality of customer service on the toll-free telephone line, which functions to provide enrollment information and applications for the MediCal and Healthy Families program. It is estimated that 1.5 million Californians are eligible for coverage under MediCal or Healthy Families, but have not yet enrolled in these public insurance programs. Understanding the varied factors that may impede enrollment are essential so that as many Californians as possible can obtain health insurance and thus increase access to health care. Lack of health insurance often translates into an individual lacking a regular source of care with uninsured individuals using fewer preventive services and having higher rates of hospitalization for many chronic conditions. In order to understand the reasons why two million individuals are eligible but not yet enrolled in a program, it is imperative to understand the varied steps, which an individual must undergo, in order to obtain the benefits. Perhaps, the first step in obtaining this public health insurance coverage would be seeing a television commercial, hearing a radio ad, or viewing a billboard which states that health insurance is available and to call the toll-free telephone line to inquire about the program. This study compared results from the 2000 and 2002 study to identify trends in customer service of the toll-free line.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access, Evaluation
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.