ACCESS AND QUALITY OF CARE FOR LOW-INCOME ADOLESCENTS

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The Title XXI initiative represents one of the largest state and federal efforts to provide insurance coverage for uninsured, law-income children and adolescents, the majority of whom will be placed in some type of managed care arrangement. Assessing health care quality in these programs for adolescents is critical because adolescents have unique health care needs; yet face many barriers to obtaining health care that is targeted toward those needs. While most adolescents are healthy, an increasing number are engaging in risk-taking behaviors that have potentially deleterious health effects, such as unprotected sexual activity and substance use. Others have chronic health conditions. The primary aim of the proposed research is to assess the effects of the organizational features of KidCare, Florida's children's health insurance program, on access to and provision of primary and preventive care for enrolled adolescents, ages 12 to 19. Adolescents with diagnoses that are indicative of risky behaviors and those with chronic conditions will be included. We will assess the organizational features of the KidCare Program components and the different MCOs and provider practices participating in MdCare on adolescents' primary and preventive care. The KidCare Program presents a unique opportunity to study 15 different MCOs and insurers, with diverse provider practices, and over 65,000 adolescents. In the proposed research, we will study the following organizational characteristics: 1. General organizational characteristics, 2. Marketing and educational strategies for outreach, 3. Financial arrangements with primary care providers, 4. Non-financial arrangements to control costs, 5. Quality assurance approaches, 6. Presence of adolescent wellness and care coordination programs, and 7. Use of technology systems. The following outcomes of care are included: compliance with preventive health care guidelines, health care use and expenditures, health status, missed school days, unmet need, satisfaction with care, and out-of-pocket spending for health care. The research design is quasi-experimental, with data collected prospectively over a two year period. To conduct this study, we will use rich data sets covering a range of adolescents who are enrolled in diverse managed care arrangements associated with Florida's Title XXI initiative. These data sets include person-level health care use and enrollment data supplemented with telephone survey data.