NSCH - supporting statement

State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey

OMB # 0920-0406

Three-year generic clearance granted April 9, 2008

Expires April 30, 2011

2011 National Survey of Children’s Health:

Instrument Revisions

Prepared by:

Rosa M. Avila, MSPH

CDC/NCHS

3311 Toledo Road

Hyattsville, MD 20782-2003

301-458-4621 (RMA voice)

301-458-4035 (fax)

[email protected]

January 21, 2011

A. Justification of the 2011 NSCH Revisions

1. Circumstances making the collection of information necessary

On 09/02/10, OMB approved the request to conduct the 2011 SLAITS National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). NCHS indicated at a meeting with OMB on that date that some additional changes would be made. Upon reexamining survey priorities, numerous questions were added to, deleted from, or slightly revised in the 2011 NSCH instrument, as delineated below. Questions were added to the survey to address nascent and/or high-priority topics as deemed by the survey sponsor (Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)) or the NSCH Technical Expert Panel. Questions were deleted from the instrument to ensure available space for new topics, maintain a consistent interview length when compared to prior iterations, and reduce respondent burden. A few questions incurred minor wording changes to clarify the question or reduce cognitive burden. Attachment 5 is the revised instrument, with changes marked. Attachment 6 summarizes in bullet form additions, deletions, and revisions of 2011 NSCH questions, from the version approved in September 2010.

Question additions

The bulk of new questions that have been added to the 2011 NSCH are on health insurance, to examine the characteristics of uninsured children who live in low-income families but are eligible for either Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) directed the DHHS Secretary to conduct an independent evaluation to include a review of ten States with approved child health plans and surveys of enrollees, disenrollees, and eligible but unenrolled individuals. As part of this evaluation, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), DHHS, wishes to explore the basic question of why some children who are eligible for their State’s CHIP and Medicaid programs are not enrolled. To address the Congressional requirement to survey families of eligible but unenrolled children, ASPE must identify and collect information on this cohort of families. ASPE intends to use data from these new questions to include information in a 2013 Report to Congress.

ASPE worked with NCHS to add this cluster of approximately 50 questions to assess knowledge of, attitudes toward, and experience with CHIP and Medicaid, and reasons for the children’s uninsurance status. The survey will provide information from families of eligible but not enrolled children on their knowledge of and experience with CHIP and Medicaid, socio-demographic factors, health status, and utilization of health services. Data from the new questions will enable ASPE to respond to statutory requirements of this evaluation, and provide a comprehensive evaluation of CHIP and Medicaid programs. Additionally, these data may provide important information on this targeted population for state and federal policy makers about Medicaid, CHIP, and the availability of employer-sponsored health insurance.

LIST OF ATTACHMENTS

5. 2011 NSCH Telephone Interview Questionnaire

6. 2011 NSCH questionnaire: Summary of Additions, Deletions, and Revisions, by Section, from the Previously Approved Version