News release from Covering Kids and Families of Indiana:
11th annual Back to School Health Coverage Enrollment rally held
(August 14, 2013) Indianapolis — Covering Kids and Families of Indiana (CKF-IN) hosted its 11th annual Back to School Health Coverage Enrollment rally to showcase statewide initiatives connecting low-income Hoosier children, adults and families with low cost or free health care coverage.
Indiana ranks 47th of 50 states in the number of uninsured children, with 8.1% of Hoosier children lacking health coverage for which many of them are currently eligible. “During this time of year, children and families are focusing on going back to school and starting a new school year, which makes this an opportune time to engage schools in our efforts to enroll them”, said David Roos, Executive Director of Covering Kids and Families of Indiana.
Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Glenda Ritz emphasized the importance of good health status in promoting school performance and reducing absenteeism among children, as well as the role school-based health centers can play to identify and enroll children and their families in health insurance and facilitate access to a medical home.
Marcie Memmer, Director of Nutrition and Physical Activity at the Indiana State Department of Health described the agency’s commitment to school wellness initiatives and ISDH’s efforts to improve children’s health outcomes and vaccination and obesity rates. “The Indiana State Department of Health believes in the importance of partnering with community organizations like CKF and other state agencies so we can collectively work to improve children’s health” said Memmer.
Covering Kids and Families of Indiana is the recent recipient of nearly $1M in Affordable Care Act funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Connecting Kids to Coverage program. With this funding, CKF-IN will utilize school-based outreach to target children in eight underserved counties in Indiana and will engage schools and health centers to enroll 6,000 children into health coverage. “This project will leverage the strengths of local schools and health centers and help us redouble our efforts to ensure that every Hoosier child as health insurance and a medical home,” said Roos.
About Covering Kids and Families of Indiana
Covering Kids & Families of Indiana (CKF-IN) is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to advocating health coverage for all Hoosiers. In addition to creating awareness through its network about the policies and issues impacting Hoosiers and their health care coverage, Covering Kids & Families of Indiana helps establish and operate community-based enrollment centers at hospitals, health centers, schools, child care and other social service providers through the formation of CKF-IN local coalitions.
Additional Resources
- Covering Kids and Families in Indiana website
- For more information about Affordable Care Act coverage.
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