Hauoli makahiki hou :] We look forward to your continued partnership in 2004 to find, enroll, and retain all eligible children and youth in Hawaii's public health insurance programs. 1. Med-QUEST's New Children and Pregnant Women Application Hawaii's children and pregnant women who are eligible but not enrolled in QUEST and Medicaid can now use a new application! It is even simpler than the "Womb to Tomb" application and can be downloaded in typeable PDF format at Library of Forms. It was launched today at a news conference and has these features: * Self-declaration of pregnancy. * Eliminates requirement to provide information on absent parents. * Eliminates questions that do not pertain to children or pregnant women. * Includes request for bilingual and sign interpreter services in fifteen languages. * Provides information on Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) services. * Helpful question and answer handout with list of resources. The news conference featured guest speakers Lieutenant Governor James "Duke" Aiona, Jr., Lillian Koller (DHS Director), Linda Rosen (DOH Deputy Director), Eiko Cusick (MothersCare Program Coordinator), and Barbara Luksch (Hawaii Covering Kids Project Director). WIC was our wonderful host at their Honolulu program site and special guests included Senator Bob Hogue, Representative Dennis Arakaki, and Representative Maile Shimabukuro. Mahalo nui loa to everyone who attended the event and those who helped with the new application form. 2. New Outreach Partner: Hawaii Asset Building Coalition This group offers free tax help to low-income working individuals and families and they can help wage earners who qualify to claim the Earned Income Credit and Child Tax Credits. They will hang our posters and distribute our flyers at their offices in Palolo, Kalihi-Palama, Makalapa, Waianae, Kahaluu, and Waimanalo. 3. MQD Enrollment Data and 211 Hotline Data Detailed data reports can be downloaded at http://coveringkids.com/news/Section_37.asp and here are some highlights: a. There were 639 calls on children's health insurance from 09/01/03 to 11/30/03 and many first time callers received information through television, radio, and newspaper due to our Immigrant Media Campaign Phase 2. b. Med-QUEST's November 2003 data shows 93,922 children and youth enrolled, including 11,042 in the CHIP expansion and 2,219 in the Immigrant Children's Program. 4. Retaining Eligible Children and Youth in QUEST and Medicaid Our Application and Renewal Simplification Workgroup is moving forward to field test a passive renewal system in 2004 for cases with children. Our Process Improvement Collaborative web page has information as well as a link to our passive renewal page with forms from other states and minutes from recent workgroup meetings.