June Partner Spotlight – School-Based Health Alliance

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The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign (Campaign) thanks all our national partners for their ongoing support in helping to connect families to free or low-cost health coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This month, we’re excited to highlight one these partners, the School-Based Health Alliance, who works to increase equitable access to health care for kids through school-based services.

School-Based Health Alliance

School-based health care advances health equity for all youth experiencing barriers to accessing care due to systemic inequities, family income, or where they live by providing medical, behavioral, oral, and vision care in schools.

To support these efforts, the School-Based Health Alliance (SBHA) has resources including videos, fact sheets, and research reports. The organization also recently  collaborated with two other Campaign partners, the National Association of School Nurses and AASA, The School Superintendents Association, to launch the “Increasing Well-Child Visits and Vaccinations in School-Aged Youth” toolkit. Recognizing the impact of decreased immunization rates since COVID-19, this toolkit offers ideas on operations, partnerships, and communication strategies and includes practical resources like consent forms and flyers for various events and vaccine clinics to help kids catch up on missed well-child visits and immunizations.

To learn more about SBHA, visit https://www.sbh4all.org/.

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Vision Care with Medicaid & CHIP

Did you know that one in four children has undetected vision issues? Vision issues can impact a child’s development, school performance, and overall health. When enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP, kids and teens up to age 19 can access a variety of benefits, including vision services like eye exams, eyeglasses, and other corrective services.

Visit InsureKidsNow.gov to find a variety of resources to share in your community about the importance of vision screenings and treatments, plus other materials to help get and keep families covered.

Extension of Temporary Unwinding-Related Flexibilities

On May 9, 2024, the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services announced extension of unwinding-related flexibilities for states  to help eligible people with Medicaid or CHIP stay covered. You can learn more about additional flexibilities at medicaid.gov/unwinding.

States are back to conducting renewals annually! Continue to remind families in your community to keep their contact information updated, and to watch for renewal information in the mail and return it ASAP to avoid a gap in coverage. If families no longer qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, you can direct them to medicaid.gov/renewals.