New Online Resources for Health Care Policy - Saturday, July 02, 2011
For Texas to be a thriving state tomorrow, we need healthy children and families today.
KidsWell Texas
is a new grassroots initiative dedicated to increasing access to health
care and building Texans' support for services for children and
families.
Led
by Engage Texas, the Center for Public Policy Priorities, Children's
Defense Fund - Texas, and Texans Care for Children, KidsWell Texas is
part of a
diverse network of state and national organizations working together on
the KidsWell Campaign. The campaign is supported by The Atlantic
Philanthropies and works on behalf of children to increase health coverage and ensure successful implementation of health care reform.
The campaign recently launched
www.KidsWellCampaign.org, a website monitoring state and national health care reform implementation and opposition across the country. Drawing
on a growing repository of more than 1,200 records from all 50 states
and both public and original sources, the website offers users the
ability to:
Track specific health reform provisions and children's coverage issues state by state;
Search across multiple states for health reform trends and developments;
Access
state profiles providing baseline information on children's
coverage programs, insurance rates, and key political figures;
View snapshots of implementation and opposition activities;
Download weekly newsletters summarizing relevant developments; and
Access reports and other advocacy resources created by KidsWell partners.
The
website focuses on health insurance coverage programs and provisions
under the Affordable Care Act, including Medicaid, the Child Health
Insurance Program, Health Benefit Exchanges, and health insurance
regulatory reforms. It was designed to support child health advocates,
but also provides transparency and accountability on health care reform
implementation more broadly, benefitting policymakers, researchers, and
the public. The national website is powered by Manatt Health Solutions.
The nation's children have a lot at stake in the ongoing federal and
state level debates over Medicaid's role in deficit reduction efforts.
Children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) are most
vulnerable to Medicaid cuts because so many rely on it. Approximately
14% (10.2 million) of children meet the criteria of having a special
health care need. Of these children, 36% rely on Medicaid for all or
part of their health coverage.
