TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement and all necessary amendments, between the City of Long Beach and the County of Los Angeles for the Children’s Health Outreach Initiative (CHOI) Program in an amount not to exceed $409,320 to provide outreach, enrollment, utilization, and retention services for the benefit of low-to-moderate income families to obtain affordable medical insurance for the period of July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2017. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
A lack of health insurance is the most important barrier impacting children's access to health care. Children without health insurance are less likely than those who are insured to see a physician for prevention-based care including immunizations and other well-child care services. Uninsured families tend to rely on emergency rooms for their regular source of care and to go without needed medical care for acute and chronic health conditions such as ear infections, throat infections, and asthma. With the passage of the Affordable Care Act and expansion of Medi-Cal in California, a study by the Commonwealth Fund reported in June 2014, that the percentage of Californians without health insurance was cut in half. It is, therefore, estimated that 11.1 percent of Long Beach residents still are uninsured; however, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) continues to work to increase access to care for our residents.
Since 2003, the Health Department has received funding from Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to assist children (ages 0 - 5) and their families to get medical coverage. The Children’s Health Outreach Initiative (CHOI) Program, formerly known as the Community Outreach, Enrollment, Utilization and Retention (COEUR) Program, keeps children and their family members healthy by ensuring access to health care coverage through community outreach, assistance with enrollment, utilization of services, and retentio...
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