1. Hawaii Covering Kids Update
a. Three task force meetings are scheduled. For times and location, please go to http://www.coveringkids.com/calendar/.
* Evaluation--May 15: presentation by Wanda Kakugawa, Market Trends Pacific, on focus groups held statewide to better understand kids health insurance issues and how the state can improve its processes.
* Process Simplification--May 24: presentation by Peter Kay, CyberCom, on using current technology integrated with mainframe systems (such as Med-QUEST's HAWI) to expedite the application process. The task force will also review the Focus Group Report from Market Trends Pacific to determine barriers and solutions for our new grant activities.
* Identification and Outreach/Media and Public Information--June 14: presentation by the five Hawaii participants who attended the Covering Kids Communications Boot Camp in Baltimore. They are: Liz Ahana (DHS Med-QUEST Division), Barbara Luksch (Hawaii Covering Kids), Ruth Ota (DOH Public Health Nursing), Lisa Taniguchi (Kauai Community Health Center), and Stephany Vaioleti (Kahuku Hospital). We will discuss Back-to-School 2002 events.
b. Hawaii Covering Kids Phase II
Our new grant activities and objectives can be downloaded in PDF format at http://www.coveringkids.com/news/Section_117.asp. The following team members traveled to Phoenix and successfully presented information to a review panel: Andrew Aoki (HMSA Foundation), Lynn Fallin (Governor's Office), Beth Giesting (Hawaii Primary Care Association), Barbara Luksch (Hawaii Covering Kids), David Peters (Hoola Lahui Hawaii), and Ann G. Tam Sing (DHS Med-QUEST Division).
c. Malama i na Keiki 3
Our third statewide outreach workers' conference was held 19 April 2002 in Honolulu with 59 participants from 25 different organizations. The focus was integrating media with community events and workshops included editorial exposure, free new coverage, affordable paid media, and how to be an effective interviewee. Our guest speaker was Kim Gennaula from KGMB-TV and the conference facilitator was Linda Colburn. A complete evaluation will be available in May.
d. Hawaii Covering Kids Flyer
Our redesigned two-sided flyer, with updated family income limits, can be downloaded at http://www.coveringkids.com/news/Section_26.asp.
2. Eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP Brief Released from Urban Institute
The New Federalism, a program at the Urban Institute, released a brief on eligibility within Medicaid and CHIP. The brief, "Children's Eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP: A View from 2000" examines the Medicaid and CHIP eligibility rules for children ages 0 to 17 as of July 2000. Based on data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families and a Medicaid and CHIP eligibility simulation model, the results varied widely from state to state. The brief highlights statistics relating to percentage of children's eligibility by state, program types for income-eligible children and program characteristics for eligible children. To reduce uninsurance among children, the report states, Medicaid and CHIP programs must focus on enrollment, retention, and access to the programs. Streamlining applications and the redetermination process is also necessary for these programs to be successful.
To download this report, go to http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/310435.pdf.
3. Governor Bob Wise Announces Health Research Survey Data to West Virginia's Covering Kids and Families Coalition
The West Virginia University Institute of Medicine conducted a statewide survey to gather data on the health status of WV children and adults. The survey, one of the first of its kind in the nation, has provided us with county level data on the number of uninsured children, the number of children currently enrolled in various health insurance programs, the number of children with a medical home and the location of that medical home, and many other county level data sets that will help the WV Healthy Kids Coalition to more effectively target our outreach and enrollment efforts. The survey shows that WV is doing an excellent job of finding and enrolling eligible children in health insurance programs. For example, only 6.6% of WV children are without health insurance coverage on any given day (94.4% are insured). The national average is nearly 11.5%, thus WV children are uninsured at almost half the rate of the national average.
Also, in 10 of 55 WV counties, children are insured at a rate of 96% or better and three WV counties insure children at a rate of 98% or better. This survey helps validate and support the intensive outreach, education, and advertising efforts put forth by the West Virginia Healthy Kids Coalition and its partners over the past three years.
If you are interested in learning more about the survey--types of questions asked, survey scope, or results--contact Brian Cunningham, Outreach Project Director at (304) 346-0032 or email at bcunning76@aol.com. The report will soon be available via the internet at http://www.wvpca.org/healthykids
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