Interim Evaluation Report on California’s Low Income Health Program (LIHP)
This interim report details the progress of California's Low Income Health Program (LIHP), a county-operated system to provide health coverage for low-income adults not otherwise eligible for public programs such as Medi-Cal. The authors find that the program, which provides health care coverage to California's uninsured as a "bridge" to health care reform implementation in 2014, has exceeded expectations, enrolling almost 180,000 more Californians than an initial projection of 512,000. In total, the counties enrolled 680,946 individuals within just one year of implementation.
Other findings indicate that LIHP has successfully shifted utilization away from expensive emergency room visits to more cost-effective preventive care services. The report's authors say that LIHP will help California prepare for the transition into the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when a significant portion of the state's population, including many in LIHP, will begin receiving coverage under Medi-Cal and Covered California, the state's health insurance exchange.
The Center is the designated evaluator of the LIHP program and will issue a final evaluation report after LIHP ends in late 2013.
The report was prepared for the California Department of Health Care Services and the Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Publication Authors:
- Gerald F. Kominski, Ph.D.
- Nadereh Pourat, PhD
- Dylan H. Roby, PhD
- Livier Cabezas, M.P.Aff.
- Xiao Chen, PhD
- Max W. Hadler, MPH, MA
- Dimiter Milev