Children are Healthy

In Santa Cruz County the majority of children ages 0-5 have health insurance.  CHIS data show that in 2009, approximately 93% of all children ages 0-5 had health insurance.   Children enrolled in Healthy Kids Santa Cruz County met or exceeded national benchmarks for utilizing preventative care as measured by access to a primary care physician, dental visits and well child exams.

Please visit the Healthy Kids website to find out more about sponsoring or enrolling a child. www.schealthykids.org >

Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County was launched in 2004 and has provided and improved the health to 12,970 children.

Please view our 8 minute video.

WHAT

Since 2004, First 5 and its partners in the Healthy Kids initiative made a total of 9,439 new enrollments of children 0-5 in health plans and helped families establish medical and dental home for their children and increase visits for preventative health care.

HOW

First 5 Santa Cruz County is a key partner in the Healthy Kids Initiative and helps income-eligible families with public health insurance applications and coverage renewals. Because Medi-Cal and Healthy Families cannot cover all of the uninsured, First 5 also funds premiums for Healthy Kids members. Outreach staff also participates in community events and responds to business and community agency requests for presentations and additional information regarding health insurance.

WHO SERVED

Since the start of the Healthy Kids Initiative in June 2004 until June 30, 2011, there were 9,439 new enrollments.

• 1,281 new enrollments of children ages 0-5 in the local Healthy Kids program
• 3,632 children in Healthy Families
• 4,526 children in Medi-Cal

IMPACT

• 94% of children ages 2-6 in the Healthy Kids program had at least one visit with a primary care practitioner.
   
• 87% of children had a well-child visit.
   
• Fewer children are using the emergency department. Ideally, children and their families who have insurance and who have a medical home will be more likely to access their provider for routine preventive care, and less likely to use the emergency.
   
• The rate of emergency department use for children using Healthy Kids insurance was increasing up through 2008, but has shown a decrease since 2009.
   
• Of children ages 4‐6 enrolled in Healthy Kids in 2010, the majority (89%) had a dental visit in the past year. This percentage has been slowly increasing since 2006 (69%).
   
• A smaller percentage of younger children (ages 2‐3) are getting dental visits, although this too has been increasing between 2006 (49%) and 2010 (69%).
   
• Santa Cruz County’s newborns are getting connected to medical care.  Baby Gateway—the Newborn Enrollment Project—has now been launched in three local hospitals. While this program has been active, 84% of all mothers this year received a newborn visit while in the hospital.
   
• Baby Gateway also assisted 80% of all mothers with Medi‐Cal births to complete a Medi‐Cal application for their new babies. With this assistance, 99% of all mothers with Medi‐Cal births had their new babies enrolled in Medi‐Cal, and 96% were assigned a primary care provider for their child.