MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN IOWA:
EPSDT Care for Kids in FY 1996.
Summer 1997

How is the EPSDT Care for Kids program faring in Iowa? The FY96 annual EPSDT participation report, recently submitted by the Iowa Department of Human Services to the US Health Care Financing Administration, offers some encouraging news. During the last fiscal year, the number of eligible children who participated in Iowa's EPSDT Care for Kids program increased by 26%.

In every age group, the rate of participation increased. Thanks to the support and patient education services provided by all of you in Iowa's health care community, more eligible Iowa children and adolescents are getting health care through the Iowa EPSDT Care for Kids program.

Once again Iowa teenagers, age 15 to 20 years, participated at the highest rate of any group (participation rates of over 100% are possible when children have missed earlier periodic screenings and then "catch up," receiving additional screenings as "new eligibles"). The lowest rate of participation last year was among Iowa preschoolers, age 1 to 5 years. Of this group, nearly 4 of every 10 children do not participate. Future efforts will focus on increasing participation in this age group, as well as in Iowa counties where overall participation rates are lower.