1. Simple Figures Show the Importance of Health Insurance for Children and Youth The following statistics were presented on 25 February 2003 by Sarah Shuptrine of the Covering Kids & Families National Program Office: General Statistics on Uninsured Children * There are 8 million uninsured children in the United States. * Of those 8 million uninsured children, 65% are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP but are not enrolled which translates to 5 million American children who are unnecessarily uninsured. Consequences of Being Uninsured * 20% of uninsured children have untreated vision problems. * 51% of uninsured children had a physician visit during the previous year compared with 76% of insured children. * 21% of uninsured children had a regular dental checkup, while 50% of insured children did. Children Without Health Insurance: * 8 times less likely to have a regular source of medical care * 5 times more likely to use emergency rooms for regular care * 4 times more likely to delay seeking care Medicaid Expenditures for Children * In 2002, children made up 51% of all Medicaid recipients, but only 17% of Medicaid expenditures. * Of estimated Medicaid expenditure growth between 2002 and 2004, children will only account for 14% of costs. 2. State Coalition Meeting A friendly reminder about our presentation "Working with Immigrant Families from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines" on 14 May 2003 at 10:00 am. Featured speakers are Arnold Villafuerte, Chio Yee Ho, and LeThu Duong. The location is YWCA of O`ahu and a map is available by clicking on the event in the calendar section of our web site (http://www.coveringkids.com/calendar/). 3. Interim CHIP Evaluation Report Released A report prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "An Interim Evaluation Report: Congressionally Mandated Evaluation of the State Children's Health Insurance Program," is now available. The report summarizes findings from an evaluation of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in ten states and includes successes, challenges, and emerging issues. The report can be read or downloaded in PDF format at http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/schip/interimrpt/index.htm. Some successes: *Satisfaction of many enrollees: state officials and advocates report that families are satisfied with CHIP. *Simple application and enrollment processes: nearly all states developed simple application and enrollment processes if they have a separate CHIP. *Community-based outreach efforts: community-based outreach, often conducted by local organizations and trusted community groups, is used to target hard-to-reach families and subpopulations. Some challenges: *Gaps in outreach and awareness: states implementing CHIP faced the challenge of reaching out to large and diverse populations of low-income families with uninsured children. *Application process widely perceived as difficult: making the application process for the programs easier and more accessible to parents from diverse ethnic backgrounds and educational levels remains a challenge. *Understanding why children leave the program: tracking the retention and disenrollment of eligible children and understanding the reasons for disenrollment of eligible children remains a challenge. Although state budget shortfalls threaten funding, CHIP is a successful program popular among legislators, families, advocates, and health care providers. 4. Medicaid at a Glance In 2002, Medicaid provided health insurance to 24 million children and youth--more than 25% of the kids in the United States. This Kaiser Family Foundation fact sheet provides an overview of the Medicaid program and can be downloaded in PDF format at http://www.kff.org/medicaid/200403-index.cfm.