Connecting Rural Families to Medicaid and CHIP

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Outreach to the more than 61 million Americans living in rural areas, including Tribal, frontier, and geographically isolated territories is critical. Families living in these areas often face barriers to health equity, including higher rates of chronic conditions, decreased access to care, higher poverty rates, and being underinsured or uninsured. These barriers put children at risk for missing out on important medical care that is crucial to overall health, social and physical development, and school performance. Free or low-cost health coverage offered through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) provides benefits that rural families can rely on to ensure their children have essential health coverage, including routine checkups, mental and behavioral health services, dental care, vision care, non-emergency transportation, and more. We encourage you to explore our Medicaid and CHIP resources and share them with families in rural areas for National Rural Health Day on Thursday, November 21, 2024.

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Recognizing Native American Heritage Month

National Native American Heritage Month is another important observance that can be highlighted to connect with families and share the benefits of enrolling in Medicaid and CHIP. Many families that are part of American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes also live in rural areas and experience similar barriers to health care. The AI/AN population continues to have the highest uninsured rate compared to other populations, preventing some families from receiving important care. Outreach to the AI/AN community this month and year-round is critical to closing the health coverage gap. CMS’ Division of Tribal Affairs also has a full catalog of tools including enrollment strategies, fact sheets, flyers, brochures, best practices, and more to reach the AI/AN community.

Outreach Materials Available

The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign has ready-to-use materials and other helpful resources to support your organization’s outreach to families. Specific materials for reaching rural communities can be found on the Reaching Rural Communities Initiative page. 

The Outreach Tool Library offers customizable print materials, tear pads, flyers, social media recommendations, and more to support outreach. All resources are available in English and Spanish, and many others are available in 22 other languages.

Check Out Our Previous Webinars

The Campaign regularly hosts webinars on a variety of topics to share important strategies and information for partners and grantees to support their outreach and enrollment efforts, including for those in rural settings.

As your organization starts to plan 2025 outreach activities, the Campaign encourages you to revisit previous webinar recordings available in the Webinars & Videos archive on InsureKidsNow.gov. To stay informed on upcoming webinars, keep an eye on these eNewsletters and the Campaign’s X/Twitter account!