1. First Five Hawaii AlohaCare is partnering with Hawaii Covering Kids to sponsor children's health insurance advertisements on KHON2. It is part of the station's First Five Hawaii series and will refer viewers to our 211 hotline and include a khon.com web link to coveringkids.com. The television advertisements air beginning Monday, 22 August and in October they will join AlohaCare's regular advertisement rotation on KHON2 and KGMB9. 2. Radio Advertisements Target Pregnant Women March of Dimes Hawaii Chapter and Hawaii Covering Kids Kahuku Local Project are partnering to inform pregnant women about health insurance through a media outreach event. The target geographic area is Koolau Loa moku, however radio advertisements will be heard throughout Oahu and encourage pregnant women to call our 211 hotline for more details. 3. Dynamics in Medicaid and CHIP Eligibility Among Children: 1996-2000 The share of children made eligible for public health insurance has grown dramatically since the inception of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Other studies have characterized eligible populations using cross-sectional data. This study by Anna Sommers, Lisa Dubay, Linda Blumberg, Fred Blavin, and John Czajka used longitudinal data to describe eligibility spells experienced by the same children over a four-year period from 1996 to 2000. Two-thirds of all children were eligible for Medicaid or CHIP in all or some waves during the 4-year panel. Almost 20 percent of all children were always eligible for public insurance, and half were eligible in only some waves. Almost 60 percent of always eligible children retained eligibility for all waves through multiple eligibility routes. Among those who were sometimes eligible, 56 percent had more than one spell of eligibility, and just over half were eligible through more than one eligibility route over the panel. Among children ever eligible for CHIP during the panel, 73 percent were also eligible for Medicaid at some time in the panel, and 36 percent of children ever eligible for Medicaid were also eligible for CHIP at some time. They concluded the substantial growth in the share of children eligible for public programs over this period was accompanied by significant changes in how children became eligible for coverage. Fluctuation between eligible and ineligible periods, eligibility routes within Medicaid, and across programs was common among children. 4. Three Years of State Fiscal Struggles: How did Medicaid and CHIP Fare? During 2003-2005, states faced some of the largest budget shortfalls since World War II. With a focus on Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Teresa Coughlin and Stephen Zuckerman examined budget decisions in eight states during this period. Increasing Medicaid enrollment because of the economic downturn and rising health care costs compounded state budget shortfalls as state revenues dropped; problems peaked in 2004. States, however, were reluctant to confront their budget deficits as long-term problems and implemented a variety of one-time revenue strategies and spending reductions that pushed fiscal problems into the future. The arrival of federal fiscal relief in late 2003 helped states avoid deeper cuts but did not eliminate cutbacks.