COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

Health Department

 

DATE:

December 22, 2005

BOARD MEETING DATE:

January 10, 2006

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

None

VOTE REQUIRED:

None

 

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Charlene A. Silva, Director, Health Department

SUBJECT:

Agreement number 05MHF074 – Agreement between the State of California’s Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB) and the County of San Mateo to provide matching funds for the Children’s Health Initiative Program

 

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution authorizing the President of the Board to execute agreement 05MHF074 and other related documents with the State of California Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board to allow the State to provide matching funds in the amount of $897,379 for the term of July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007.

 

VISION ALIGNMENT:

Commitment: Ensure basic health and safety for all.

Goal(s): Goal 5: Residents have access to healthcare and preventative care.

The contract contributes to this commitment and goal by ensuring that all County children from low-income and middle-income families have access to health insurance.

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

CY 2004
Actual

CY 2005
Projected

Medi-Cal (MC) membership for children*

13,906

14,500

Healthy Families (HF) membership

7,514

8,100

Healthy Kids (HK) membership

5,170

5,900

*MC Membership has been revised to include only children with comprehensive coverage. Previous reports included children with limited coverage who were also covered by HF and HK.

BACKGROUND:

The purpose of the MRMIB Contract is to establish San Mateo County as the administrator of the County Children’s Health Initiative Program (C-CHIP), thereby giving the County access to federal funding through the County Health Initiative Matching Fund established through AB 495 (Diaz 2001).

AB 495 authorizes local governments to seek and obtain federal matching funds to provide comprehensive health insurance to children in families whose income does not exceed 300% of the Federal Poverty Level and who do not qualify for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. AB 495 permits retroactive reimbursement starting in January 2003.

The San Mateo County Healthy Kids program was established in 2003 as the local C-CHIP Program. The County acts as the contractor, with the Health Plan of San Mateo (HPSM) as the health insurer. As the C-CHIP provider, HPSM develops applications and program materials; receives, processes and screens applications; determines eligibility and conducts eligibility re-determinations; forwards applications; enrolls eligible applicants; and provides health, dental and vision health coverage to eligible subscribers.

DISCUSSION:

AB 495 qualified four counties in California for the federal match: San Mateo, San Francisco, Santa Clara and Alameda. Through MRMIB, reimbursement will be provided for Healthy Kids insurance premiums for members who meet the following criteria:

    Household income is between 250% and 300% of the Federal Poverty Level

    U.S. Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident

    Ineligible for Medi-Cal or Healthy Families

San Mateo County Children’s Health Initiative (CHI) currently has 300 children enrolled in the Healthy Kids program meeting these requirements. The County will therefore realize approximately $400,000 dollars per year in federal matching funds.

Due to the coordination needed with the other AB 495 counties, MRMIB was delayed in processing the contract. It was received by the County in late October.

FISCAL IMPACT:

There is no additional Net County Cost associated with executing Agreement number 05MHF074. The term of this agreement is from July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2007, for a maximum of $897,379 in funding for the County. The approved FY 2005-06 budget for CHI includes $400,000 of this amount. The balance will be included in the FY 2006-07 budget.