The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is reminding eligible consumers that children and teens ages 5 and up can now get the safe and effective Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. This is an exciting development in the country’s fight against the virus and will allow us to build on the progress made against COVID-19 thus far. The vaccine is the best way to keep children safe from the virus and is available for free in every state. Please share information on how to find a COVID-19 vaccine within your community. Families can also call their child’s health care provider to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine and check in about other important vaccinations like the flu vaccine, which is crucial to keeping children healthy this winter. Learn more here.
Additionally, if your organization is looking for resources to promote flu vaccines in your community, please visit InsureKidsNow.gov for digital videos that highlight the importance of flu vaccine and are available in English and Spanish. Please note, these digital videos can be used in outreach indefinitely, but only as produced by CMS.
Health Coverage No Matter Where You Live: Connecting Families in Rural Areas to Health Coverage
Having health coverage is crucial, no matter where you live. Rural parts of the country, however, deserve particular attention – not just because Rural Health Day is on November 18. Compared to their counterparts in more urban areas, children in rural areas are less likely to be insured and are 24 percent more likely to depend on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). With around 60 million people living in rural America (U.S Census data, 2016), including 13.4 million children, providing opportunities to connect to free or low-cost coverage options through Medicaid and CHIP is important.
While reasons for being uninsured may vary, not having health coverage makes children more vulnerable to experiencing interruptions in health care. That’s why the Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign has resources available to support outreach to eligible families in rural America. Medicaid and CHIP provide access to a variety of care, including routine check-ups, vaccinations, prescriptions, dental care, mental and behavioral health services, and more.
The Campaign has resources and tips on how to conduct outreach to rural communities. We encourage you to explore the full Outreach Tool Library for year-round Campaign resources, including social media images, print-ready materials, digital videos, customizable resources, and more and incorporate them into your outreach.
Available Now: Engaging and Enrolling: Countering the Chilling Effect of “Public Charge” to Help Latino Children Get Medicaid and CHIP Coverage Webinar Slides
Our recent webinar, Engaging and Enrolling: Countering the Chilling Effect of “Public Charge” to Help Latino Children Get Medicaid and CHIP Coverage, was the Campaign’s most attended webinar to date!
This webinar, which was held during National Hispanic Heritage Month, featured an analysis of recent data to raise awareness about the increase in uninsurance rates among Latino children; Medicaid and CHIP outreach strategies to effectively reach immigrant families, address coverage disparities, and advance health equity; and also highlighted a new factsheet available on InsureKidsNow.gov for organizations working with immigrant families. The new fact sheet is available in English and Spanish and provides important information that immigrant families should know when applying for coverage through Medicaid and CHIP. It will also be available in additional languages in the near future.
The webinar also addressed recent federal guidelines to inform states and stakeholders that the 2019 Public Charge Final Rule was vacated and is no longer in effect. If you were unable to join the webinar, the slides presented and a list of resources shared are available at InsureKidsNow.gov.
Current & Upcoming Observances:
- National Diabetes Month (November)
- World Diabetes Day (November 14)
- National Rural Health Day (November 18)
- Thanksgiving (November 25)
- National Influenza Vaccination Week (December 5-11)
- New Year’s Eve (12/31)
Stay Connected with the Campaign
- Share our Campaign materials. Our ever-growing, multi-lingual Outreach Tool Library features a variety of targeted resources to use in your outreach and enrollment efforts, available in multiple formats.
- Contact us. To get more involved with the Campaign, contact us via email at ConnectingKids@cms.hhs.gov.
- Follow the Campaign on Twitter. Remember to re-tweet or share our messages from @IKNGov with your social network and be sure to use our #Enroll365 and #KidsEnroll hashtags in your posts.
Subscribe to the “Campaign Notes” eNewsletter
The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign eNewsletter “Campaign Notes” is distributed throughout the year and provides updates on Campaign activities. If a friend or colleague forwarded this email to you, we invite you to sign up to receive this eNewsletter directly to your inbox.