Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release October 12, 1999

THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION TAKES NEW STEPS TO INCREASE ENROLLMENT OF UNINSURED CHILDREN

Today, in an address to 8,000 pediatricians at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the President will unveil a series of new actions to target and enroll millions of uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP. These new actions include: 1) dedicating over $9 million in research funds to identify effective children's health insurance strategies; 2) directing Cabinet Secretaries to develop strategies to institutionalize school-based outreach; 3) sending new guidance to states and schools on funding options for school based outreach; and 4) releasing a report detailing new activities on outreach. The President also will announce that over 1,500 schools in 49 states have pledged to join the Insure Kids Now campaign.

During his speech, the President will challenge Congress to pass a number of critically important health care initiatives for children. He will call for passage of a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights, and for passage of the Jeffords-Kennedy-Roth-Moynihan Work Incentives Improvement Act. He also will criticize the Republican leadership for supporting budget and appropriations bills that reject the Administration's proposals to prevent youth smoking, and to increase funds for childhood immunizations, children's health insurance outreach, graduate medical education at children's hospitals and the nation's safety net providers.

Today, President Clinton will:

ANNOUNCE NEW FEDERAL EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY AND ENROLL UNINSURED CHILDREN. There are over 10 million uninsured children nationwide, and aggressive implementation of CHIP has enrolled over 1 million children. States report that enrollment should more than double over the next year, but we must do more to ensure the success of this program.

Today, the President will:

• Release the first annual Interagency Report on Children's Health Insurance Outreach detailing the hundreds of outreach activities being conducted by 11 Federal Departments and agencies. Today, the Federal Interagency Task Force on Children's Health Insurance Outreach, created by President Clinton last year, reported on their accomplishments and proposed new activities to identify and enroll eligible children in CHIP. Highlights of new activities include:
• Adding AmeriCorps to the Task Force. Every new AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA member working with youth and in health care settings will receive information on CHIP and Medicaid outreach techniques in new member orientation materials. With this information, thousands of volunteers nationwide will be able to link uninsured children to the new health insurance options available.
• Advising grandparents about new health insurance options for kids. Recognizing the importance of grandparents as caregivers, HHS and SSA are including information on CHIP and Medicaid in this fall's cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) notices and the "Medicare and You" handbook, sent to all 39 million Medicare beneficiaries annually.
• Reaching families as they file their taxes. During the upcoming tax season, the IRS will provide information on CHIP and Medicaid to over 8,000 Voluntary Income Tax Assistance volunteers helping families to complete their income tax returns.
• At the Vice President's request, direct Cabinet Secretaries to develop strategies to integrate children's health insurance outreach into schools. Today, the President will sign an executive memorandum instructing the Secretaries of HHS, Education, and Agriculture (which has jurisdiction over the school lunch program, serving more than 25 million children daily) to report to him in six months on steps the Federal government can take to institutionalize school-based outreach and enrollment and to highlight successful ongoing programs. Using schools to target enrolled children is a strategy that has been strongly promoted by the Vice President. It builds on innovative programs some states are already implementing. For example, both Indiana and New Jersey are using their Federal authority to conduct on-site enrollment of children in schools.
• Release new administrative guidance on CHIP funding options for school-based outreach to state health and education officials. This week, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and Education will send guidance to every relevant state agency describing the financial, administrative, and technical assistance that CHIP offers for school-based outreach. It will clarify how states and schools can use a portion of the multibillion dollar CHIP allotment to provide outreach in schools. It also will suggest that states allow schools to provide immediate eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP to children who appear to be eligible for those programs; and it will promote the upcoming national and regional conferences on school-based outreach.
• Announce that more than 1,500 schools have already responded to the call to join the Insure Kids Now campaign. At the National Governors' Association meeting last August, the President announced that Secretary of Education Riley was requesting school superintendents and principals to conduct outreach for and enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP as part of their back to school activities. In response, more than 1,500 schools in 49 states committed to new steps to help children, including providing information on CHIP and Medicaid (including the national toll free number for children's health insurance outreach - 1877 KIDS NOW) at parents' nights, registration and school physicals, and in letters sent to parents about immunization.
• Announce over $9 million public-private partnership to identify effective children's health insurance strategies. Today, the President will announce that HHS and The David and Lucille Packard Foundation will join forces to fund over $9 million in research on best practices in outreach techniques, and in how health insurance programs improve the quality of, and access to, health care for low-income children. These projects will focus on minority children and children with special health care needs. The results will be widely disseminated to Federal and state policy officials and will help refine Medicaid and CHIP to meet more effectively the needs of children.

WELCOME NEW PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS IN THE INSURE KIDS NOW CAMPAIGN. The President is pleased to announce the addition of Parmalat and Swiza Foods to Insure Kids Now campaign, joining Safeway, General Motors, Kmart, McDonalds, and other private sector partners.

URGE CONGRESS TO PASS INSURANCE REFORM INITIATIVES ESSENTIAL TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH. The President will call on the Congress to:

• Pass a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights. Last week, a strong bipartisan majority in the House passed the Norwood-Dingell Patients' Bill of Rights, a major victory for every family in every health plan - but there is still more work to be done. The President will urge Republican leaders to resist weakening the patient protections guaranteed in the Norwood-Dingell bill or undermining the bill's bipartisan support in conference. Finally, he will urge the Congress to ensure that the Patients' Bill of Rights is paid for without using the Social Security surplus.
• Build on its success in acting on the Patients' Bill of Rights to pass a bill with even greater bipartisan support: the Work Incentives Improvement Act. This bill passed the Senate unanimously and has been co-sponsored by a majority of the House of Representatives. The President will encourage the House to act now and send him this bill to sign before Congress recesses for the year.

THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP MUST MOVE FORWARD ON BUDGET PROPOSALS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO CHILDREN'S HEALTH. The President will criticize the Republican leadership for:

• Failing to address the problem of youth smoking. The President will criticize the Republican leadership for rejecting the Administration proposal to increase the price of cigarettes by 55 cents a pack. He will reiterate that of the more than 400,000 Americans who die each year from smoking related diseases, almost 90 percent of them started smoking as teenagers. The President will point out that increasing the cost of cigarettes is not only one of the most effective ways to prevent kids from starting to smoke, it is good fiscal policy because revenue raised by this increase will help save the Social Security Trust Fund.
• Failing to invest in children's health insurance outreach. Neither the House nor the Senate bills include the Administration proposal to remove the sunset from the $500 million fund on TANF-Medicaid outreach. To date, only $50 million has been spent, yet for most states, the funding ends in the next few months.
• Jeopardizing childhood immunization rates. The House bill provides almost $85 million below the President's request of $526 million for the CDC's Childhood Immunization program. This low level of funding would result in approximately 170,000 children not receiving the full complement of recommended childhood vaccines.
• Short-changing graduate medical education at children's hospitals. The Senate bill does not fund the Administration's $40 million proposal to fund graduate medical education at children's hospitals, where one-third of pediatricians and over half of many pediatric sub-specialists are trained.
• Under-funding care for the uninsured. The Senate bill does not fund the Administration's initiative supporting the nation's health care safety net. Most of the uninsured are employed, but lack affordable health insurance options, relying on public hospitals and other safety net providers for needed health care.

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