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The Cover All Kids Coalition has launched its first campaign to encourage parents to make sure their children have health care coverage and receive regular checkups. Currently, as many as 64,000 Minnesota children 18 and under are uninsured, according to the Minnesota Department of Human Services. Cover All Kids is a public-private partnership of more than 20 organizations that have joined together to support health care for kids.
The campaign begins Aug. 30 with kids day at the Minnesota State Fair with Gov. Jesse Ventura proclaiming September as Cover All Kids Month in Minnesota. The coalition will mark the launch with special activities at the coalition’s Minnesota State Fair booth including a visit by Minnesota Commissioner of Health Jan Malcolm and coalition co-chairs Jim Koppel of the Children’s Defense Fund Minnesota and Michael Scandrett of the Minnesota Council of Health Plans, the launching of the coverallkids.org web site and a new toll free statewide kids¹ health care hotline, 866-489-4899. (Cover All Kids can be found at the state fair in the Crossroads building at the corner of Dan Patch and Cooper.)
“Many working families are unaware that they qualify for public-supported health care coverage,” said Jim Koppel, co-chair of the Cover All Kids Coalition. “This is our first step in a multi-year campaign to get the word out to Minnesota families that affordable health care coverage is available and regular checkups for kids are essential.”
Minnesota Department of Health research shows that 88 percent of the parents of uninsured children ages 17 and under are employed. Currently, for example, a family of four in Minnesota can make more than $48,000 a year and still qualify for low-cost health care coverage through MinnesotaCare if they have been without coverage for four months. This coverage pays for checkups, hospitalization, immunizations, doctor visits, prescription drugs and more.
Koppel noted that research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation shows 21 percent of parents of uninsured children delayed or skipped medical care for their children because they believed they could not pay for it, and 20 percent stopped their children from participating in an athletic event out of fear that they couldn’t pay for treatment if their child was injured.
“Fortunately, most Minnesotans don’t have to make those tough choices,” said Michael Scandrett, of Minnesota’s nonprofit health plans. By calling the new toll free hotline, Minnesotans can receive information on insurance coverage options, assistance in applying for coverage and information on preventive care for kids.
Starting with the Minnesota State Fair and throughout the next few months, billboards, bus sides and bus stops will feature Minnesota Viking Cris Carter and information about Cover All Kids. The web site and mock ups of the billboards and bus sides can be seen at the Cover All Kids booth. In its outreach efforts, Cover All Kids is building relationships with targeted counties, schools and neighborhood groups. In addition, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation has introduced a grant program to improve health and dental care access for children. While many organizations are supporting overall efforts of the coalition, Minnesota’s nonprofit health plans are sponsoring the fall public awareness campaign.
In February, Gov. Jesse Ventura, Department of Health, Department of Human Services, Children’s Defense Fund-Minnesota, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Medical Association and many other groups formed the Cover All Kids Coalition. The coalition¹s goals are to make sure every child in Minnesota has health care coverage and that they receive regular checkups, recommended immunizations and other preventive care. Coalition work groups are also tackling issues such as medical best practices and community standards, eliminating disparities, improving access to care and coverage.
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