The Office of Research and Statistics at the South Carolina Budget and Control Board assisted the project with data collection and interpretation.
The data collection activities included:
South Carolina will be using a multi-stage data collection process. The data collection will utilize the following:
Quantitative
Qualitative
The household survey will be the focal point of our data collection. We will draw a sample of 1600 households and 400 uninsured. We will talk to the most knowledgeable member of the household (screening) and then use the roster to identify who the target for the long form should be. Oversampling the uninsured should give us a good picture of the uninsured population in this state. All generalizations about the uninsured will be made based upon the data from this sample.
We will supplement this sample by drawing another separate sample from our ER and hospital databases. South Carolina has a lot of administrative data on the healthcare side, including emergency room data and the ability to track across time. We will send a self-administered survey to this group. We will draw 3 samples of 2500. To address the literacy issue, the self-administered form will be kept simple. It is simply designed to obtain demographic information about the household. The ER and hospital databases will be surveyed to give us information related to cost. Using the self-administered survey, we hope to develop a profile of the uninsured who use the ER. We will be sampling self-pay/indigent. The Division of Research and Statistics has Medicaid data and data from the South Carolina Health Insurance Pool from which we can draw comparisons.
The focus groups will be conducted in pre-determined regions of the state, and will be comprised of small business owners offering health insurance, small business owners not offering health insurance, representatives of health and social service agencies, members of the insurance industry, medical providers, members of local governments, and the uninsured.
The purpose of the focus groups is to provide some texture and nuance to the quantitative findings and literature reviews that will make up a large portion of the framework from which the Health Insurance Policy Advisory Committee will operate. Moreover, the focus group sessions represent a medium for various constituencies and stakeholders to have a voice in the planning process. While focus groups do not represent a data source from which broad inferences can be made, they still provide that important "insider's story" that can otherwise become lost in a quantitative maze of tables and figures.
In each focus group we asked a series of pre-determined questions intended to stimulate discussion among group participants about their experiences stemming from the problem of un and under insurance in South Carolina. A note-taker will compile detailed notes during each focus group, and each session will be tape-recorded, making it possible for note-takers to double check and augment their notes as needed. Enclosed are copies of sample focus group questions.
Like the focus groups, the purpose of the interviews is to add a qualitative layer to the quantitative findings derived from the data collected. The focus groups and key informant interviews will help put a face on the issues in the small group health insurance market. The Health Insurance Policy Advisory Committee will use this quantitative data and this type of information to help formulate recommendations for the South Carolina General Assembly and other policy makers. In each interview, we will ask a series of pre-determined questions intended to stimulate discussion among group participants about their experiences stemming from the problem of un and under insurance in South Carolina. A note-taker will compile detailed notes during each focus group, and each session will be recorded, making it possible for note-takers to double check and augment their notes as needed. Enclosed are copies of sample interview questions.