Providence Receives Grant to Reduce Number of Uninsured Children
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Providence has been awarded a grant by the National League of Cities (NLC) to implement local outreach efforts to enroll children and families in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
In total, the NLC awarded grants and technical assistance to eight cities across the country under the Cities Expanding Health Access for Children and Families Initiative to help cities implement comprehensive campaigns to reduce the uninsured rate for children and families by 50 percent in each of the cities. According to the NLC, families with health insurance reduce emergency room visits, avoid crushing health care costs and have healthier children who perform better in school.
"As a nation, we've made significant progress on enrolling eligible children in Medicaid and CHIP, but millions of children who qualify for coverage under these programs still need to sign up. Cities are vital partners in outreach and enrollment efforts," said Cindy Mann, Deputy Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "We applaud National League of Cities for its leadership and support."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe cities were chosen based on the quality and feasibility of business plans that were submitted in the spring and will receive grants of up to $260,000.
"Each of the cities chosen had a rigorous business plan that detailed a clear path forward to drive down the rate of the uninsured in their communities," said Clarence Anthony, NLC’s executive director. He continued, "Each city should be commended for the positive contributions they will make to their communities. There are clear benefits to the program with healthier kids meaning better high school and college completion rates and financial savings for the community."
About the Initiative
NLC will provide cities with customized assistance, access to best practices and national experts and opportunities for peer learning during the implementation process. Emphasis will be placed on cross-community collaboration among city agencies, school districts, hospitals and clinics and other community-based organizations.
NLC's Institute for Youth, Education and Families is coordinating the Cities Expanding Health Access for Children and Families initiative as part of a multi-year effort to increase access to health care for children and families funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies. The three-year program involves three phases: Year One saw 23 cities attending regional leadership academies to learn how to develop data-driven and broad-based health benefits outreach campaigns; in Year Two, NLC selected 12 of the 23 cities to receive planning grants and technical assistance to develop comprehensive business plans for implementing the outreach campaigns; in today's Year Three announcement, the implementation grants were based on the strength and feasibility of the business plans created in Year Two.
The cities selected are Dallas, Texas; Garden City, Michigan; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Jacksonville, Florida; New Bedford, Massachusetts; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Providence, Rhode Island; and Savannah, Georgia.
Related Slideshow: New England’s Healthiest States 2013
The United Health Foundation recently released its 2013 annual reoprt: America's Health Rankings, which provides a comparative state by state analysis of several health measures to provide a comprehensive perspective of our nation's health issues. See how the New England states rank in the slides below.
Definitions
All Outcomes Rank: Outcomes represent what has already occurred, either through death, disease or missed days due to illness. In America's Health Rankings, outcomes include prevalence of diabetes, number of poor mental or physical health days in last 30 days, health disparity, infant mortality rate, cardiovascular death rate, cancer death rate and premature death. Outcomes account for 25% of the final ranking.
Determinants Rank: Determinants represent those actions that can affect the future health of the population. For clarity, determinants are divided into four groups: Behaviors, Community and Environment, Public and Health Policies, and Clinical Care. These four groups of measures influence the health outcomes of the population in a state, and improving these inputs will improve outcomes over time. Most measures are actually a combination of activities in all four groups.
Diabetes Rank: Based on percent of adults who responded yes to the question "Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have diabetes?" Does not include pre-diabetes or diabetes during pregnancy.
Smoking Rank: Based on percentage of adults who are current smokers (self-report smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke).
Obesity Rank: Based on percentage of adults who are obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 or higher.
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