1. Two New Reports from The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities a. Chartbook on Improving Children's Health It summarizes recent research findings about children who receive health insurance from either Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). "Improving Children's Health: A Chartbook About the Roles of Medicaid and SCHIP" analyzes findings from various sources, focusing on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) 2001 National Health Interview Survey. Some key findings from this report include: * Children's coverage under CHIP and Medicaid grew between 1997 and early 2003. * Publicly-insured children are slightly less likely to get dental care than privately-insured children. * One recent federal analysis found that children are less likely to be hospitalized for preventable diseases when they live in areas that cover more people in their Medicaid programs. The report is available at http://www.cbpp.org/1-15-04health.htm. b. State Budget Cuts Causing Cutbacks in Children's Health Coverage In thirty-four states, measures to close state budget gaps have caused unprecedented cuts in Medicaid and CHIP health insurance for low-income children and families. Children represent almost half of those losing health insurance (490,000 to 650,000 children) and six states have stopped taking CHIP applications for enrolling eligible low-income children, including newborns. Go to http://www.cbpp.org/12-22-03health-pr.htm for more details. 2. Increasing Red Tape Costing Medicaid and CHIP Dollars Administrative burdens are costing states millions of dollars that could otherwise be used to provide health care to children in need, argues a new report from Children's Defense Fund-New York. The study argues that as states introduce administrative hurdles to slow or freeze enrollments of eligible children, they add to the administrative costs of Medicaid and CHIP programs, taking away funds that could be spent on care for children while reducing the number of children enrolling in these programs. The abstract is available online at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/1/237. 3. "Who's Enrolled in SCHIP?" The Child Health Insurance Research Initiative has released this new issue brief that summarizes the characteristics of children newly enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in five states. Also included are findings on adolescents' health care experiences prior to enrolling in CHIP and how the characteristics of CHIP enrollees changed as one state program evolved. Key findings from the issue brief include: * Nearly one-half of enrollees still had unmet health care needs, particularly for mental health, dental, and vision care, and prescription medications. * As many as three-quarters of new CHIP enrollees lived in working families with incomes equal to or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), even though families were eligible for the program with incomes as high as 200 percent to 250 percent of FPL, depending on the state. The issue brief (AHRQ Publication 04-0015) can be downloaded at http://www.ahrq.gov/chiri/chirifind.htm#enrollment or by calling 1-800-358-9295. 4. Children's Defense Fund-Texas Leads Successful Effort to Restore Mental Health Benefits to CHIP In September, 500,000 Texas children lost dental, vision, hospice, and most mental health services through the Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In response to these drastic cuts, over 150 organizations and 1,000 individuals across Texas are fighting back. These advocates, led by CDF-Texas, created a grassroots Campaign to Restore CHIP to fully restore all CHIP benefits during the 2005 Texas Legislative session. The campaign scored its first victory recently when Governor Rick Perry announced the partial restoration of mental health benefits to CHIP. Organizers credit a range of advocacy activities with their success, including weekly news releases and dozens of public comments to the federal government on the Texas CHIP State Plan.