Covering Kids and Families Task Force
Goals and Objectives
Enroll eligible children and adults in available health insurance programs
(Children’s
Health Insurance Plan—CHIP; adultBasic—ABC;
and
Medical Assistance—MA).
- Develop, publicize, and distribute a list of health
care resources
available to Washington County residents who do not have health
insurance for Cover the Uninsured Week, May 10-16, 2004. - Organize, publicize, and hold the Healthy Kids to Healthy
Adults
Conference on November 5, 2004. - Hold a refresher course on CHIP and ABC enrollment assistance
for case managers at Head Start. - Develop, publicize, and distribute a train the trainer
booklet or one
page reference sheet on enrollment assistance. - Approach the Family Center in the Mon Valley to offer
enrollment
assistance (they have computer access there). - Identify and send information about CHIP, ABC, and MA
to
businesses who do not offer health insurance to their employees. - Contact Washington County schools, day cares and Head
Start to
mail out sign-up sheets for CHIP. - Advocate with legislators on the need to keep ABC program
and
find ways to fund it.
Problem Statement
Parents whose children are not covered by health insurance coverage
either
do not seek appropriate medical care for their children or they rely
on
the hospital Emergency Department. This leads to poor health status
for
their children and increased health costs. Also, research has shown
that
people without health insurance for extended periods of time are
sicker
and are more likely to die sooner than people who have
insurance.
According to the March 2000 report from Pennsylvania Partnerships for
Children,
there are an estimated 258,000 children in Pennsylvania who
are uninsured.
Of these, one-half or almost 126,000, are estimated to be
eligible
for Medicaid, but are not enrolled. More than one-fourth, or
almost 73,000,
are estimated to be eligible for CHIP but are not
enrolled. Finally, 59,000
are estimated to be ineligible for coverage
under any government program.
As of May, 2004, 2519 Washington County children were enrolled in
CHIP.
As of May 2004, only 875 Washington County residents were
enrolled in ABC,
and 1034 were on the waiting list. 55% of surveyed
Washington County residents
identified health care insurance related
problems, such as high health
insurance costs and no health insurance,
as the number one health problem
for Washington County. The same
survey produced a low estimate of 3%, or
5,681 Washington County
residents without health insurance. Using the national
statistic of
15.2%, this estimate rises to 28,405.
For CHIP, we plan to continue to enroll children and perform outreach
activities,
especially with the help of task force members. For ABC, we
plan to continue
to enroll adults and participate in legislative advocacy
to restore and
expand funding for the program.
To join the Covering Kids and Families Task Force or to support
any of
these initiatives, please contact Hugh Wallace, Administrative
Assistant,
at
724-222-6511, ext. 10, or via e-mail at hlw@wchpinc.org.
Events
Quarterly Meetings
Links
Covering Kids and Families Task Force History
Downloads
Covering the Uninsured Brochure.
PDF
(366 KB)