A Randomized Trial of Effects of Parent Mentors on Insuring Minority Children

Background: Six million US children are uninsured, despite two-thirds being eligible for Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and minority children are at especially high risk. The most effective way to insure uninsured children, however, is unclear.

Methods: We conducted a randomized trial of the effects of parent mentors (PMs) on insuring uninsured minority children. PMs were experienced parents with >=1 Medicaid/CHIP-covered child who received 2 days of training, then assisted families for 1 year with insurance applications, retaining coverage, medical homes, and social needs; controls received traditional Medicaid/CHIP outreach. The primary outcome was obtaining insurance 1 year post-enrollment.

Inclusion criteria

• The parent/guardian is a primary caretaker of a least one child 0-18 years old who currently has no health insurance
• The parent/guardian self-identifies the uninsured child as Hispanic/Latino, African-American/Black, or both
• The uninsured child is eligible for either Medicaid or CHIP
• The parent/guardian is willing to be contacted monthly by telephone, or in the form of a home visit (if no functioning telephone is present in the household).