1. Hospital Emergency Department Data When Hawaii Covering Kids began in 1999, our Evaluation Task Force decided an important indicator to help measure our success is a decrease in emergency room visits by uninsured children and youth. A recent report from Hawaii Health Information Corporation shows very encouraging results for 0-18 year olds! * overall decrease of emergency room visits by uninsured children and youth from 5.3% to 3.6%; * county decreases in Hawai`i from 4% to 2.98%, Honolulu from 5.53% to 3.23%, and Kaua`i from 3.66% to 2.46%; and * decrease for each age group with the most dramatic for 13-18 year olds from 7.68% to 4.74%. 2. "The State of Kids' Coverage" Report State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) researchers prepared a report, "The State of Kids' Coverage," for The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Back-to-School campaign. It includes a series of state-level tables using data from Current Population Survey (CPS) and National Survey of Children's Health and shows the percentage of uninsured kids in the U.S. has decreased since the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was approved by Congress in 1997. Here is the link to download the reportin PDF format: The State of Kids' Coverage. 3. Smoother KidCare Aims for Rebound KidCare, Florida's subsidized health insurance program for children, is making a comeback after years of confusing policy shifts left hundreds of thousands without medical coverage. There is no longer a waiting list which two years ago topped 70,000 children. Enrollment is open year-round instead of a 30-day period as in the past. Applications of only two pages are among the simplest in the nation and can be completed online. KidCare includes Healthy Kids, MediKids, and Children's Medical Services and insures children ages 1 to 18. At its high point in April 2004, there were 336,689 children enrolled in KidCare. As of August 1, there were 224,717 children enrolled. "It's the single most powerful program that can help us fulfill the enormous potential of our children," said U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, who attended a news conference Thursday with other advocates at St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Tampa. Davis, D-Tampa, recalled a recent meeting with the mayor of Miami Gardens, who told him there were children in elementary school wearing dentures. "This haunts me," Davis said. "And the tragedy is this is unnecessary." An estimated 374,000 uninsured children qualify for low-cost or free health insurance who are not enrolled in any subsidized programs. Some parents are embarrassed to admit they need help, advocates said. Others don't know what's available. "Every child in the state of Florida--in this whole country--should have access to health care," said state Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Palm Harbor. "That's a no-brainer." Davis, Bilirakis, and other local officeholders took part in a campaign sponsored by Florida Covering Kids and Families, a project of The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at the University of South Florida, St. Joseph's, and Amerigroup Corp. Past program troubles such as the closing of enrollment for eighteen months cost KidCare hundreds of thousands of children whose parents dropped out of the program or gave up attempting to apply. "We need to build it back," said Hillsborough County Commissioner Kathy Castor whose mother, former Education Commissioner Betty Castor, helped start KidCare in 1997 with then-Gov. Lawton Chiles. Chiles took the model to President Clinton, who turned it into a national program. Organizers want to educate parents and the community at large about how easy it is to sign up for KidCare, though approval of documentation including income can take more than two months. "It's awful to have to choose whether to put food on the table or take your child to the doctor," said Mia Dorton, a wife and mother of three in Tampa who found herself in that situation two years ago. Her husband lost his job and the family was uninsured for two months. "You live in constant fear of your child having to go to the hospital," Dorton said. Her husband's new job provided him with health insurance, but the couple had to pay more for family coverage which cost about $700 a month. It never occurred to Dorton that they could qualify for state-funded health insurance. She learned that a friend, whose husband earned more than Dorton's, was enrolled in KidCare. When Dorton's application was approved, the family paid a $20 co-payment for medical services for all three children and no co-payments for hospital visits or prescriptions. "It revolutionized our life," Dorton said. [Sherri Ackerman, The Tampa Tribune] 4. What Do Parents Say About The Los Angeles Healthy Kids Program? The Urban Institute released this report, based on a series of focus groups with parents of children enrolled in the Los Angeles County Healthy Kids program. The groups explored parents' feelings about and experiences with Healthy Kids, which extends coverage to uninsured children from birth through age eighteen in families with income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level who are ineligible for Medicaid or CHIP. Researchers found the program is providing families with a highly valued service in the form of comprehensive health insurance, permitting their children easier access to care, making health services more affordable, and increasing options for where and when to obtain care. It can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking here: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/410308_parents_say.pdf.