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Webinar on 10/13 – Register Now!

Engaging and Enrolling: Countering the Chilling Effect of "Public Charge" to Help Latino Children Get Medicaid and CHIP Coverage

The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign Invites You to Attend a Webinar:

Engaging and Enrolling: Countering the Chilling Effect of “Public Charge”
to Help Eligible Latino Children get Medicaid and CHIP Coverage

Wednesday, October 13, 2021
2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. ET

Medicaid and CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) provide comprehensive health benefits to almost 39 million children up to age 19 nationwide.[i] But many children still lack health insurance. A recent report from the Georgetown University’s Center on Children and Families found that the overall child uninsured rate started going in the wrong direction between 2016 and 2019, and Latino children were disproportionately affected. Latino children’s uninsured rate reached 9.3 percent in 2019, compared to 4.4 percent for non-Latino children. [ii] To close this coverage gap, it is critical to understand more about which Latino children are losing coverage, factors and drivers associated with higher uninsured rate, and outreach strategies and resources to help enroll eligible but uninsured children in Medicaid and CHIP. These insights will help direct outreach and enrollment efforts to more effectively target immigrant families, address coverage disparities, and advance health equity.

This webinar, which is being held during National Hispanic Heritage Month, will feature an analysis of recent data to raise awareness about the increase in uninsurance rates for Latino children, outreach strategies to effectively target this population, and a new resource available on InsureKidsNow.gov for organizations working with immigrant families. The webinar will also address recent federal guidance to inform states and stakeholders that the 2019 Public Charge Final Rule was vacated and is no longer in effect, and that applying for or receiving Medicaid or CHIP benefits does not make someone a “public charge.”[iii] The Department of Homeland Security’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking requesting public feedback on the public charge ground of inadmissibility will also be covered.

Participants will also learn about the Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign’s many resources on InsureKidsNow.gov, which include a digital video, social media, text messages, and newsletter articles.

Webinar speakers feature:

• Sarah Lichtman Spector, Director, Division of Medicaid Eligibility Policy, Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Amanda Baran, Chief of Policy and Strategy, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security
• Kelly Whitener, Associate Professor, Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Center for Children and Families
• Patrick Bresette, Children’s Defense Fund – Texas
• Jenn Kerr, Outreach Contractor, Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign, Porter Novelli Public Services

REGISTER HERE

We Want to Hear from You!
The Campaign wants to hear how organizations like yours are helping get children and teens get vaccinated. Send us an email at ConnectingKids@cms.hhs.gov. And visit our website to access slides and recordings from previous Campaign webinars._­­­­

Stay Connected with the Campaign 

• Share our Campaign materials. Our ever-growing, multi-lingual Outreach Tool Library features a variety of targeted resources to use in your outreach and enrollment efforts, available in multiple formats.
• Contact us. To get more involved with the Campaign, contact us via email at ConnectingKids@cms.hhs.gov.
• Follow the Campaign on Twitter. Remember to re-tweet or share our messages from @IKNGov with your social network and be sure to use our #Enroll365 and #KidsEnroll hashtags in your posts.

Subscribe to the “Campaign Notes” eNewsletter
The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign eNewsletter “Campaign Notes” is distributed throughout the year and provides updates on Campaign activities. If a friend or colleague forwarded this email to you, we invite you to sign up to receive this eNewsletter directly to your inbox.

[i] https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/program-information/medicaid-and-chip-enrollment-data/report-highlights/index.html#:~:text=82%2C301%2C711%20individuals%20were%20enrolled%20in,individuals%20were%20enrolled%20in%20CHIP
[ii] https://ccf.georgetown.edu/2021/06/08/health-coverage-trends-for-latino-children/
[iii] There’s one exception for people receiving long-term care in an institution at government expense, like in a nursing facility or mental health institution. These people may face barriers getting a green card.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

To contact CMS, please visit our contact us page.