Hilltop Disseminates Research Findings on New Mexico’s SCI Program across the Country

Hilltop researchers have been actively presenting the findings of their study of employer participation in New Mexico’s State Coverage Insurance (SCI) program. The study, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s State Health Access Reform Evaluation (SHARE) program, determined what factors influence small business employer participation or non-participation in SCI, one of the state’s efforts to expand health coverage to low-income New Mexicans who are not eligible for Medicaid. Anna Sommers, PhD, a Hilltop senior research analyst and the project’s principal investigator, released the study’s findings at the 2009 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Chicago, Illinois on June 27 and June 30. Sommers participated on two panels: Early Results from the State Health Access Reform (SHARE) Program, and The Lab Reports: Evaluating States’ Actions to Expand Access & Coverage. On July 6, in the Pueblo of Laguna, New Mexico, Charles Milligan, JD, MPH, Hilltop’s executive director and an investigator on the project, included study results in his testimony before the New Mexico Legislative Health and Human Services Committee about the new Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) and its impact on the SCI program. Changes in what CHIP funds can be used for have the potential to reduce funding for SCI, and the state is exploring its options in regard to sustaining the program. Most recently, on July 31, at the State Coverage Initiatives Annual Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Asher Mikow, MHA, a Hilltop research analyst and investigator on the project, and Mari Spaulding-Bynon, JD, Insure New Mexico! Bureau Chief at the New Mexico Human Services Department and co-principal investigator of the project, presented research results in a session entitled Research & Evaluation of State Reforms. Dissemination activities are also occurring within New Mexico, including presentations to program stakeholders, and other interested parties. A number of issue briefs are expected to be published in the fall by both the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s SHARE program and The Hilltop Institute. View the AcademyHealth presentation. View the handouts.

July 1, 2009