1. Hawaii Covering Kids News * We were featured in a Honolulu Star-Bulletin news article titled "More kids qualify for free health insurance" on 8 March 2005. * We were awarded a grant for $142,000 from the Hawaii State Department of Human Services to conduct statewide activities. Our Kahuku Local Project was awarded two grants for media outreach events: $36,000 from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and $14,000 from the March of Dimes Hawaii Chapter. Mahalo to these wonderful partners for helping us sustain efforts to find, enroll, and retain eligible people in QUEST and Medicaid programs. * Malama i na Keiki 6 was held in Honolulu on 18 March 2005 for outreach workers, inreach workers, outstationed eligibility workers, and Med-QUEST eligibility workers. There were 87 participants from 32 organizations on 6 islands. Our focus was improving customer service and we featured a guest speaker from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, two guest speakers from KGMB-TV, learning workshops, networking opportunities, and skill-building activities. 2. Federal Initiatives * On 26 January 2005, Senator Kerry (D-MA) introduced the Kids First Act (S.114). The bill's goal is to provide health insurance to all children in the United States. Approximately 9 million children under age 19 are currently uninsured. The bill would give states the option to receive 100 percent federal Medicaid funding for children below 100 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) if states: expand children's coverage up to age 21 in working families (up to 300 percent FPL), allow higher income families to buy in to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), provide coverage for lawfully present immigrant children, remove enrollment and access barriers, and maintain Medicaid/CHIP income and resources standards and methodologies in effect on 1 January 2005. For states choosing this option, there would be no cap on available CHIP funding. Among its other provisions, the bill would provide a refundable income tax credit for children's health insurance but require forfeiture of the personal tax exemption for any child not covered by health insurance. It would also amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to require group market health insurers to offer a dependent coverage option for workers and other individuals with children. The bill would pay for the additional coverage by partially repealing the tax cut to the highest income tax bracket. * The Family Opportunity Act (S.183/HR.1443) was reintroduced on 26 January 2005 by Senators Grassley (R-IA) and Kennedy (D-MA) and 17 March 2005 by Representative Sessions (R-TX) with 32 cosponsors. The bill would allow parents of children with significant disabilities to buy into Medicaid at an affordable rate, allow states to develop demonstration program to provide needed services at home to Medicaid enrolled children with psychiatric illnesses, instead of in a residential or institutional setting, and would establish Family to Family Information Centers in each state to help families with special needs children. * The Immigrant Children's Health Improvement Act (ICHIA, HR. 1233) was reintroduced on 10 March 2005 by Representatives Lincoln Diaz-Balert (R-FL) and Henry Waxman (D-CA). ICHIA would restore Medicaid and CHIP eligibility to lawfully present immigrant children and pregnant women. In Hawaii, this would allow us to receive matching federal funds for these QUEST and Medicaid customers. 3. Virginia Governor Discusses National Health Policies The Kaiser Family Foundation will host Virginia Governor Mark Warner for a "Kaiser Conversations on Health" event featuring an interview and live webcast on Thursday, 14 April from 11:30 am-12:30 pm EDT. Questions will be taken from the audience and via email from webcast viewers. Governor Warner, an emerging national leader who currently chairs the National Governors Association, will discuss proposals to alter the Medicaid program, the future of long-term care, and other state and federal health and social issues. Governor Warner has worked to reform Virginia's government services and spending to address a $6 billion revenue shortfall. He has also revamped Virginia's Family Access to Medical Insurance Security Plan which helps working families provide health insurance to their children. This was accomplished by streamlining the eligibility and enrollment process, which in turn, spurred an increase in the number of families who receive health insurance for their children. Governor Warner has also pushed a number of major initiatives in tax policy, education, mental health services, workforce development, and veterans care services during his governorship. Prior to serving as Governor of Virginia, he helped to establish the Virginia Health Care Foundation, which has provided health care to more than 476,000 underserved Virginians. The live webcast of this event will be available starting at 11:30 am EDT at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/healthcast/kff/14apr05. An archived version of the webcast will be available later that day at the same web address. Email questions may be submitted in advance of or during the live webcast to conversations@kff.org. 4. Medicaid Matters to Someone You Know This new campaign was launched to assist local and state advocates in protecting the program. The campaign's web site provides a messaging toolkit for people working to defend Medicaid which 50 million people rely on. It has a ready-to-use toolkit of messages, materials, and dissemination ideas. You can download free, tested messages emphasizing the importance of Medicaid and the threat now facing the program. Messages are enhanced by high quality, full color photography. One set of materials is designed to be ready to print. The second set is designed so that components of the product can be adapted for current activities by tailoring the messages and placing organization logos on the materials, inserting a unique message, or by replacing photographs with local ones. This site also provides helpful suggestions for how the materials can be used as part of an existing campaign, as well as tips for launching a Medicaid Matters Campaign in your own community. It also includes an extensive list of links to other useful resources, such as national level data, state campaigns, and organizing resources.