When uninsured children report to school this month, they'll not only be signed up for classes, but enrolled in their state's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) if a
national outreach campaign has its way.
This is how The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation plans to increase coverage rates for the 11 million children who are uninsured nationwide.
The back-to-school craze, when parents are busy preparing their children for a successful school year, is considered a prime time for promoting messages about their health
coverage, says Joseph Toscano, SVP of Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns & Associates, RWJF's PR agency.
As part of its $26 million CHIP outreach campaign, back-to-school enrollment launches are scheduled in six cities between now and mid-September. A $2 million advertising effort
is promoting the campaign in Albuquerque, N.M.; Baltimore; Boise, Idaho; Fresno, Calif.; Greenville, N.C. and Springfield, Ill.
Campaign snapshots include:
- Schools throughout Ohio will include brochures about the state's Healthy Start program in back-to-school packets targeting parents. CHIP applications and
information also will be distributed on report card days and kindergarten round-up days. - In Georgia, CHIP initiatives will be included in back-to-school immunization drives and signups at PTA meetings.
- In Utah, local groups are planning back-to-school events in 20 elementary schools and all secondary schools in Salt Lake City. Applications for free lunch programs
will also include information about CHIP.
Beyond the regional efforts, the campaign is pumping a lion's share of its budget into ongoing research to develop an in-depth market research profile of uninsured families and
the enrollment barriers they face.
Its most recent research found that six out of 10 parents whose children qualify for CHIP or Medicaid do not believe that these programs apply to them. However, 82% of these
parents said if they knew their children qualified for coverage, they would enroll. And of the 11 million uninsured children in the U.S., 7 million of them are eligible for
coverage. CHIP misperceptions are highest in households where both parents work (71%) or where annual income is $25,000 or more (69%). Part of the confusion stems from income
eligibility requirements, which vary from state to state. For instance, a family of four in Greenville, N.C. is eligible for CHIP with an annual household income of $30,000 and in
Boise, Idaho, the same family is eligible at $25,000.
"Our campaign priorities with targeting the working poor will have to take into account those who are least likely to know about their eligibility in each market. It will have
to be very grassroots driven," says Toscano.
Expanding on this point, Joan Alker, assistant director of government affairs at Families U.S.A., notes that once community initiatives are launched they have to have the
appropriate infrastructure in place to provide back-end support, like well-staffed phone hotlines, so that families aren't frustrated and turned off.
(Greer, Margolis, Mitchell, Burns & Associates, Joseph Toscano, 202/338-8700; Families U.S.A., Joan Alker, 202/628-3030)