Reports

• Sick and In Debt: Improper Practices that Cause Medical Debt for Low-Income Californians, September 2004 (1,001K PDF file)
  


• Evaluation of the Health Consumer Alliance and the Health Rights Hotline, February 2003 (560K PDF file)

  Researches at the University of Southern California Division of Community Health completed this evaluation of the Health Rights Hotline and the larger Health Consumer Alliance (HCA) collaborative. The report describes and evaluates the major work of the Hotline and HCA: (1) outreach to and education of health care consumers, (2) individual assistance resolving eligibility and service issues, and (3) policy work to resolve systematic problems within the health care arena. Reporting on consumer surveys of those assisted by the Hotline and HCA, USC found that 87% of consumers found the programs somewhat or very helpful. The report concludes that independent consumer assistance programs are needed in today’s complicated managed health care market and urges expansion of the program to cover other high needs areas.

  Press Release - Health Consumer Alliance Helps Thousands of Uninsured Californians Access and Retain Health Coverage, February 19, 2003

• From Concept to Operation: A Guide to Developing Assistance Programs for Health Care Consumers, January 2003 (2,982K PDF file)

  This report covers all aspects of planning, implementing, and maintaining consumer assistance programs. Based on the experiences of the Health Rights Hotline, an independent assistance program serving health care consumers in four Northern California counties, the Guide provides specific advice and steps in a variety of areas including program design; staffing and training; education and outreach; serving health care consumers; collecting and analyzing data; conducting policy and systemic work; program evaluation; and financing. The Appendices, available only on-line, contain documents that can be used as templates for developing budgets and requests for proposals; job descriptions; program protocols; counselor training programs; data definitions; and more. There also are examples of state legislation that created and funded consumer assistance programs. It is hoped that the Guide will be useful for organizations interested in establishing similar programs as well as for generating some ideas to improve or expand existing programs. The Guide is available also on the web sites of the Center for Health Care Rights – www.healthcarerights.org - and the Kaiser Family Foundation – www.kff.org.
  
  

  • View the Report's Appendices
    
    

• Denti-Cal Denied: Consumers' Experience Accessing Dental Services in California's Medi-Cal Program, January, 2003 (138K PDF file)

  This report analyzes the problems faced by consumers in the Denti-Cal program which provides dental services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries in California. Co-authored by the Health Rights Hotline and the Health Consumer Alliance, the report found that hundreds of low-income consumers are denied medically necessary dental care and face other serious barriers to accessing dental services. The report makes numerous recommendations for improving the Denti-Cal program.
  
  Press Release - Report shows consumers' difficulty accessing dental services in California's Medi-Cal program, January 16, 2003

• The Impact of the Health Rights Hotline - Making a Difference for Health Care Consumers Through Direct Service, Advocacy and Systemic Change, June 2001 (1,104K PDF file)
  

  This report analyzes the experiences of health care consumers who were served by the Hotline during its first three years of providing services, from July 1, 1997 to June 30, 2000. Released on June 27, 2001, the report provides a three-year perspective on how the health care system in the four-county Sacramento area is - or is not - working for consumers. Based on the experiences of more than 8,700 individuals who called the Hotline for assistance with a health care problem or question, the report makes recommendations to health plans, medical groups, regulators, and employers on how to make the health care system more responsive to consumer concerns.

  Press Release - Three year Study Reveals Little Positive Change for Sacramento Area Health Care Consumers

  Executive Summary - The Impact of the Health Rights Hotline - Making a Difference for Health Care Consumers Through Direct Service, Advocacy and Systemic Change

• When What's Ailing You Isn't Your Health, August 2000
  

  A Health Rights Hotline Report on the Different Problems Experienced by Persons with Specific Health Conditions as They Navigate the Health Care System. This document is available in PDF format.

• Independent Evaluation Finds Consumer Hotline Successful At Resolving Consumer Problems With Health Plans, Press Release January 10, 2000
  

  The results of the evaluation of the Health Rights Hotline were released on January 10, 2000 in an article published in the journal Health Affairs. The evaluation finds that the Hotline is responding to health care consumers' needs and is having a positive impact in resolving their problems. Click here to link to the Health Affairs article.

• The Health Rights Hotline: Role of a Model Independent Assistance Program, Health Affairs, January/February 2000.

  This article summarizes The Lewin Group's evaluation of the Health Rights Hotline, a model independent assistance program that serves a four-county area around Sacramento, California.

• The Lewin Group Evaluation of the Health Rights Hotline
  

  This is the full Lewin Group Evaluation of the Health Rights Hotline.

• Annual Report - Real Problems and Real Solutions: Making the Voices of Health Care Consumers Count, Health Rights Hotline, 1999 (1,976K)*
  

  The Health Rights Hotline helps consumers access needed health care by providing free, independent information and assistance with their health care rights in a four-county area around Sacramento, California. Through collecting, analyzing and reporting on the experiences of the Hotline's callers, the Hotline seeks to improve the health care system so fewer problems will arise in the future.

  Real Problems and Real Solutions: Making the Voices of Health Care Consumers Count covers the Hotline's second year of providing services, from July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999. During this period, the Hotline directly assisted over 3,500 individual consumers, an increase of nearly 50% from the first year. The report gives voice to the many consumers who have problems getting care for which they have coverage and highlights the difficulties consumers can have if they do not know how to naviage an increasingly complex health care system. The report also makes recommendations to health plans, medical groups, policymakers and regulators on actions they can take to improve the health care system for consumers.

  
  

  * This file is available in PDF format. You will need Acrobat Reader in order to view it. If you need to download a free copy of Acrobat reader, click here.

  

• Annual Report Executive Summary - Real Problems and Real Solutions: Making the Voices of Health Care Consumers Count, Health Rights Hotline, 1999
  
  
• Annual Report Executive Summary - Consumers in Managed Care: Problems, Solutions and Lessons Learned from the Health Rights Hotline July 1997 - June 1998