California Tests Online Healthy Families, Medi-Cal Application

To increase enrollment in Medi-Cal and Healthy Families, California's Medicaid and CHIP programs, California is launching a pilot program that enables families to apply for benefits online, Reuters Health reports. Developed through a partnership between the California HealthCare Foundation, the Medi-Cal Policy Institute and the California Health and Human Services Agency, Health-e-App allows families to apply for either program online through a simplified application and provides "immediate" feedback about eligibility (Gearon, Reuters Health, 1/23). In addition, the program allows applicants to select physicians and health plans based on certain criteria, such as language, medical specialty and location. The program is being tested in low-income and underserved areas in San Diego County and is available anywhere there is Internet access, including schools, libraries and public health clinics. Health-e-App will be available in English, Spanish and read-aloud text for the visually impaired, and "trained assisters" will be available in some locations to help families with the application (California HealthCare Foundation release, 1/23). Currently, 2 million Californian children lack health insurance, and Healthy Families and Medi-Cal "have the potential" to provide coverage for 75% of uninsured children under age 19 (TheSanDiegoChannel.com, 1/23). Steve Escoboza, interim director of San Diego County's Health and Human Services Agency, said, "Many families are discouraged by the lengthy enrollment process and the amount of time it takes to determine if they are eligible for these programs. Health-e-App could change all that" (California HealthCare Foundation release, 1/23). Sam Karp, chief information officer at the California HealthCare Foundation, added, "Health-e-App provides for a fast, secure and consumer-friendly way to enroll in public health insurance programs. It offers real-time preliminary determination of eligibility, as well as real-time selection of physicians and health plans" (Reuters Health, 1/23). The application is available online at http://www.healtheapp.org/Healtheapp/default.asp.