From Page 1

Sadly, KidCare was not a winner when the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Fiscal Council presented their Health and Human Services budget recommendations on March 30. This round of budget negotiations did not result in restoration of the 2005-6 KidCare funding level to cover 135,000 more uninsured eligible children, or replacement of KidCare’s successful community-based education and outreach efforts. Without allocation of new dollars to the committees, significant changes in funding were not expected in this round. Following the Estimating Conference involving both houses on April 14, there will be another opportunity to restore the KidCare funding.

We will continue to work on penetrating with these messages: DO NOT CUT KidCare funding; REAUTHORIZE coverage for legal immigrant children; REDIRECT some funds to these children and to community-based outreach. Look for another KidCare alert when we learn more from the Estimating Conference, if not before. Read more & TAKE ACTION!

Good News for Healthy Start Coalitions

We celebrated early session budget successes when the Senate HHS Appropriations Committee accepted the Healthy Start Coalitions' $9.5 million budget request, and the House Health Care Appropriations Committee approved $9 million. These funds are intended to provide services to 28,000 additional high risk, eligible pregnant women. Thanks to all who responded to our calls for action, helping get over these initial legislative hurdles.

Medicaid Vision, Hearing, Partial Dentures Move Toward Restoration

For three years, Florida health care advocates have persistently asked the legislature to reauthorize providing Medicaid recipients with the essential services of eyeglasses, hearing aids, and partial dentures that had been eliminated over the past few years. At last, we prevailed in the Senate, and the House approved all but hearing aids. Read more & TAKE ACTION!

Possible Florida Medicaid Savings from Corporate Responsibility Bills

Fair Share Health Care Fund Bills Deserve Fair Share Hearings

More than one-quarter of workers in corporations with 500 or more employees do not receive employer-based coverage. This growing lack of coverage results in high and rising public costs. Many of these workers find themselves needing to rely on Medicaid. Fair Share Health Care Fund bills filed in both houses would create a state Fair Share Health Care Fund to help finance coverage for uninsured employees in corporations with 10,000 employees or more. Read more & TAKE ACTION!

NATIONAL ACTION

Citizens' Health Care Working Group Survey Now Online!
All comments are due by April 30, 2006.
For the first time, the federal government is asking all of us what we think is important for health care to work for everyone in the US. Congress has established the Citizens' Health Care Working Group to direct the dialogue, which is now underway through community meetings, virtual town hall meetings, and internet polls, blogs and forums. The Working Group will issue recommendations to Congress and the White House in 2007. If you were/are not able to attend a local Working Group gathering, here is your opportunity to participate in this important effort!

Federal Budget Action Moves to the House

TAKE URGENT ACTION TODAY - CALL AND EMAIL

to Preserve Vital Health and Human Services!

The President's budget plan for next year cuts services like education, job training, child care, food assistance, housing and health care. On April 5 the US House of Representatives is scheduled to debate a FY 2007 Budget that DOES NOT include the $7 billion increase for health and education funding (the Specter-Harkin amendment). Your voice TODAY is critical in urging your US Representative to oppose the Budget Resolution. Read more

TAKE ACTION! Email AND Call!

Email Congress: Don't Cut Human Needs Programs in the Federal Budget

Click here to send email to your Congressional Rep through Coalition for Human Needs.

Use this toll-free number 1-800/459-1887 to call your Congressional Rep TODAY.

Click here for more details from Florida Consumer Action Network. The toll-free number is provided by American Friends Service Committee.

Major Health Insurance Deregulation Bill Heads to US Senate Floor: Grassroots Action Needed on Bill That Overrides State Parity, Consumer Laws

The mislabeled “Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA)” (S 1955), an under-the-radar sweeping restructure of our insurance system, has passed out of committee and will be heading toward the Senate floor. It would put those with serious or chronic health concerns at risk of being priced out of the market. NMHA warns that the bill “overrides over 1,000 longstanding, vital state consumer-protection laws. Read more & TAKE ACTION!

Florida CHAIN thanks the many advocates who have taken the time to respond to our recent Get Active alerts. Your messages do make difference. Look for increased reporting on state legislation and weekly calls to action during the Florida session.

Return to Top

April 3, 2006

STATE ACTION

FLORIDA 2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

CHAIN Days 2006 in Tallahassee April 4-5
KidCare
Healthy Start
Medicaid Vision, Hearing, & Partial Dentures
Possible Florida Medicaid Savings from Corporate Responsibility Bills

NATIONAL ACTION

CITIZENS' HEALTH CARE WORKING GROUP SURVEY ONLINE
Take URGENT ACTION on the Federal Budget
Insurance Deregulation Bill Moving to Senate Floor

STATE ACTION

FLORIDA 2006 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

CHAIN Days 2006 in Tallahassee

April 4 - 5

Longstanding event for Florida health care advocates

Press Conference April 5

For more information and registration form, click here.

Children's Week in Tallahassee starts April 2

Health & Human Services Budget:

Winners, Losers, But It's Not Over Yet

KidCare

Sadly, KidCare was not a winner when the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Fiscal Council presented their Health and Human Services budget recommendations on March 30. This round of budget negotiations did not result in restoration of the 2005-6 KidCare funding level to cover 135,000 more uninsured eligible children, or replacement of KidCare’s successful community-based education and outreach efforts.

Without allocation of new dollars to the committees, significant changes in funding were not expected in this round. Following the Estimating Conference involving both houses on April 14, there will be another opportunity to restore the KidCare funding.

Thanks to advocates for thousands of messages generated from Florida CHAIN through Get Active and by other partner networks, Committee and Council members commented on having heard from advocates around the state.

Fiscal Council Chairman Rep. Joe Negron began the House budget presentation with comments on KidCare. He acknowledged the volume of calls and e-mail messages received about the outreach program and "misinformation" circulating about marketing and outreach efforts. He reported several printed recruitment materials were being distributed, and noted the increased radio/TV spots recently presented in the greater Tallahassee area. Stressing parental responsibility to act on the opportunity to enroll their children, he suggested that there was already enough marketing and outreach.

Rep. Lorraine Ausley later spoke to the difference between the community hands-on outreach proven to enroll children vs. the advertising efforts that are important for increasing public and parent awareness but don’t find the kids to actually get them into the program.

How Families Learned About Florida KidCare by Top Three Information Sources: Research and focus groups as reported in the KidCare Coordinating Council Annual Report indicates that the most consistent sources for recipients to find KidCare are: Family/Friend, Doctor/Provider, and Kid’s School.

Research including the state's own studies show that there are at least 500,000 uninsured children in the state, of whom about 250,000 are eligible for KidCare. At its peak, KidCare enrollment was 323,262 children. Even then it was projected that there were still hundreds of thousands of uninsured children.

More education about the unmet need, and the importance of proven coordinated community–neighborhood efforts will help legislators better understand the importance of restoring this effort - through the existing infrastructure of the Covering Kids and Families Coalition, Florida’s nationally recognized outreach model. This model is no different from the commercial insurance market’s strategy to successfully promote their products to customers. Using the same strategy for KidCare makes good sense. It also complements the advertising efforts of Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, which has traditionally been responsible for marketing and enrollment, and not for community-based outreach activities.

Next chance for KidCare advocacy: The Estimating Conference, involving both the Florida House and Senate, will review appropriations to date and negotiate on April 14. With large increases in state revenue again expected, we will work on using some to shore up the KidCare budget and cover 135,000 additional uninsured eligible children.

TAKE ACTION!

Sign your support for restoring adequate KidCare funds to the state budget. Please click here to review the KidCare position paper, circulate it to others for maximum participation, and EMAIL YOUR ORGANIZATION’S NAME OR YOUR OWN NAME AND CITY TO SIGN-ON to lisam@floridachain.org AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Look for another KidCare alert when we learn more from the Estimating Conference, if not before.

Good News for Healthy Start Coalitions

Florida CHAIN is a long time supporter of the Healthy Start Coalitions as the critical beginning of a continuum of care that assures healthy births and healthy children. We celebrated early session budget successes when the Senate HHS Appropriations Committee accepted the Healthy Start Coalitions' $9.5 million budget request, and the House Health Care Appropriations Committee approved $9 million. These funds are intended to provide services to 28,000 additional high risk, eligible pregnant women.

Thanks to Sen. Fredrica Wilson who continues tirelessly to champion this cause, and to all who responded to our calls for action, helping get over these initial legislative hurdles.

Medicaid Vision, Hearing, Partial Dentures Move Toward Restoration

For three years, Florida health care advocates have persistently asked the legislature to again authorize providing Medicaid recipients with the essential services of eyeglasses, hearing aids, and partial dentures that had been eliminated over the past few years. At last, we are prevailing.

The Senate Health and Human Services Appropriations Committee budget recommendation now includes restoration of adult Medicaid vision, hearing, and partial denture services (currently, Medicaid recipients needing partial dentures are covered only to have all their teeth pulled and get a full set). This is a major step forward to maintaining good health for low-income adult beneficiaries, assuring that they will be able to have a better quality of life, and prevent deterioration of their health status.

Unfortunately the House Health Care Appropriations Committee was shortsighted in restoring only the dental and vision coverage in their budget. They ignored that health aids are essential to basic function, safety, and quality of life - for low-income people who cannot pay for them on their own. We will continue working to have all three services restored this year.

TAKE ACTION!

Contact all members of the House Health Care Appropriations Committee, asking them to finish restoring essential adult Medicaid coverage to include hearing aids that protect the well being and safety of poor Medicaid beneficiaries. Click here for links to committee members' contact information.

Possible Florida Medicaid Savings from Corporate Responsibility Bills

Fair Share Health Care Fund Bills Deserve Fair Share Hearings

More than one-quarter of workers in corporations with 500 or more employees do not receive employer-based coverage. These companies include Wal-Mart, Bank of America, and Walgreens, to name only a few.

This growing lack of coverage results in high and rising public costs. Many of these workers find themselves needing to rely on Medicaid or other state-funded programs. Hospitals often provide care for these uninsured workers, resulting in increased costs to taxpayers and communities.

The Fair Share Health Care Fund bills filed by Rep. Bucher and by Sen. Campbell take a bold step toward a sound solution to address this increasing problem. HB 813 and SB 1618 would create a state Fair Share Health Care Fund to help finance coverage for uninsured employees in corporations with 10,000 employees or more. These large companies would be required to spend at least 9 percent of total earnings of employees on health care costs, or pay an amount equal to the difference between what they spend and the 9 percent mark into the Fair Share Fund.

Florida Medicaid Reform has been driven by the belief that the increasing Medicaid budget must be contained. Data has confirmed that as employer based health insurance declines workers and their families increasingly must turn to taxpayer funded programs like Medicaid.

Large corporations can afford to pay their share to provide health care coverage for their employees, and help to reduce the Medicaid rolls in Florida.

TAKE ACTION!

Contact:

Rep. Rene Garcia, Chairman, Health Regulation Committee, to request that HB 813 be placed on the committee agenda. 850/487-2197 rene.garcia@myfloridahouse.gov

Sen. Durell Peaden, Chairman of the Senate Health Committee to agenda SB 1618. 850/487-5000
peaden.durell.web@flsenate.gov

NATIONAL ACTION

Citizens' Health Care Working Group Survey Now Online!
All comments are due by April 30, 2006.
For the first time, the federal government is asking all of us what we think is important for health care to work for everyone in the US. Congress has established the Citizens' Health Care Working Group to direct the dialogue, which is now underway through community meetings, virtual town hall meetings, and internet polls, blogs and forums. The Working Group will issue recommendations to Congress and the White House in 2007. If you were/are not able to attend a local Working Group gathering, here is your opportunity to participate in this important effort!

Federal Budget Action Moves to the House

TAKE URGENT ACTION - CALL AND EMAIL

to Preserve Vital Health and Human Services!

The President's budget plan for next year cuts services like education, job training, child care, food assistance, housing and health care - while funding tax breaks tilted heavily toward our country’s wealthiest. On April 5 the US House of Representatives is scheduled to debate the FY 2007 Budget Resolution. The House will consider a budget that DOES NOT include the $7 billion increase for health and education funding (the Specter-Harkin amendment) which passed the Senate overwhelmingly, but was rejected by the House on March 29.

Your voice TODAY is critical in urging your Representative to oppose the Budget Resolution on the grounds that it ignores the bipartisan goal of increasing public health and education funding by $7 billion, and thereby paves the way for deep cuts to health care, support, services and research.

TAKE ACTION!

Email AND Call!

Email Congress: Don't Cut Human Needs Programs in the Federal Budget

Click here to send email to your Congressional Rep through Coalition for Human Needs.

Use this toll-free number 1-800/459-1887 to call your Congressional Rep TODAY.

Click here for more details from Florida Consumer Action Network. The toll-free number is provided by American Friends Service Committee.

Major Health Insurance Deregulation Bill Heads to US Senate Floor: Grassroots Action Needed on Bill That Overrides State Parity, Consumer Laws

The mislabeled “Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA)” (S 1955), an under-the-radar sweeping restructure of our insurance system, has passed out of committee and will be heading toward the Senate floor. It would put those with serious or chronic health concerns at risk of being priced out of the market. The National Mental Health Association reports that this bill would actually "shrink health care coverage and access . . . denying millions of vulnerable Americans the benefit of hard-fought protections.”

The bill creates a federal ceiling that undermines undermining consumer protections in nearly every state, and establishes an alarmingly low federal benefits standard. By allowing insurers to offer “bare-bones” plans to serve healthy individuals, it invites dramatic cost increases for plans needed by those with greater healthcare needs.

The committee rejected amendments requiring group health plans to provide mental health parity, and protections for those with cancer, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. NMHA warns that the bill “overrides over 1,000 longstanding, vital state consumer-protection laws, (including mental health parity laws) that regulate the individual, small-group and large-group insurance markets.”

TAKE ACTION!

Contact Senators Nelson and Martinez. Urge them to oppose S 1955, and convey their opposition to Senate Majority Leader Frist.

Click here to email Sen. Nelson or call 202/224-5274 (We understand Sen. Nelson has not made a decision on the bill, so reaching him is urgent.)

Click here to email Sen. Martinez, or call 202/224-3041

Contact Governor Bush. Urge him to oppose S 1955, and convey his opposition to the Senate.

Click here to email Gov. Bush or call 850/488-4441

Click here for more bill and message information from National Mental Health Association.

Return to Top

FEATURED PARTNER

March 17, 2006

Note: Immigration reform issues at the forefront of the legislative agenda both at the federal and state levels in 2006. For example, in Florida, Senator Nan Rich has introduced SB 2050 that would allow immigrant families to apply for KidCare, the health insurance program for children in low income families.

The CHAIN Reaction Featured Partner, the Farmworker Association of Florida, is one of the major entities fighting to protect the interests and rights of thousands of individuals and families who bring food to all of our tables. Protecting them and the millions of other migrant workers who support our economy and, often, the economies of their countries of origin, should be a priority for all.

The Farmworker Association of Florida is a strong multi-ethnic, economically viable organization with a solid 20-year history of leadership development and effective action for social change. The mission of the Association is to empower farmworker and rural poor communities to respond to and gain control over the social, political, economic, workplace, health, and environmental justice issues that affect their lives. FWAF’s long-term vision is a social environment where farmworkers’ contribution, dignity, and worth is acknowledged, appreciated, and respected through economic and social justice.

The Farmworker Association a non-profit, community-based membership organization, was established in 1983 in Central Florida to respond to the needs of the farmworker community and to organize farmworkers more effectively in their struggle for better housing, wages, and working conditions. The Association incorporated in 1986 and then expanded statewide in 1992. Currently, the Association has offices in five agricultural communities in Central and South Florida, serving farmworkers and the rural poor in twelve counties. Offices are located in Orange, Miami-Dade, Indian River, Collier and Volusia Counties.

FWAF membership is comprised of over 6,800 families who work primarily in the vegetable, citrus, mushroom, sod, fern, and foliage industries. Members are:

94% Latino (predominately Mexican, Guatemalan, and Salvadoran)
3% Haitian
3% African-American
40% Female

DEFENDING FARMWORKER HEALTH

Recently, a lot of momentum has been building in Florida around farmworkers’ pesticide exposure and related health issues. This began in March ’05 when three babies with severe birth defects were born into farmworker families in Southwest Florida. What linked these three births was the fact that their mothers had each worked for the same company during their pregnancies, AgMart (producer of Santa Sweets grape tomatoes); and all of the families lived within 200 yards of each other at a labor camp neighboring the farms.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ (DACS) investigations of AgMart’s working conditions and records of employer compliance with farmworker health and safety laws, have resulted in the filing of 88 counts of pesticide use violations, and $111,200 in fines. The company has been cited with at least as many violations in its North Carolina fields, and is facing further investigation by other state agricultural officials and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In September, AgMart announced that it would discontinue the use of five chemicals, including two that have tested positive for birth defects when used in high doses. However, the highly toxic, ozone-depleting chemical methyl bromide is not one of the five that AgMart will eliminate, even though it’s also known to cause birth defects.

These investigations have highlighted the need for additional pesticide inspectors at DACS, in order to adequately enforce farmworker health and safety protections. Currently, DACS employs only about 45 pesticide exposure inspectors for the entire 44,000 farms, livestock operations, and 200 million square feet of nursery foliage facilities under its jurisdiction. In October, Florida's Agricultural Commissioner, Charles Bronson, said that he intends to ask for money to pay for ten additional pesticide-safety inspectors and five additional inspectors in the food-safety division. Also in response to the investigations, Publix Super Markets, the sixth-largest grocery store chain in the U.S., announced in October that none of its 866 stores in five states will sell AgMart’s Santa Sweets grape tomatoes.

Other investigations focused on the connection between pesticide exposure in the workplace and the babies’ deformities. On October 12, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) released a statement saying that, according to a preliminary epidemiologic analysis conducted by the Collier County Health Department and the University of Florida College of Medicine, "pesticide exposure was unlikely as a cause of birth defects in the 3 babies.” Although, within the full report it is stated that, during their pregnancies, all three mothers: 1) worked for AgMart in North Carolina and Florida; 2) worked during similar time periods; and 3) lived in the same vicinity at the same time.

From April to June, FWAF conducted an intensive health and safety campaign, during which organizers conducted 26 EPA-certified pesticide trainings with 362 farmworkers, and completed 123 workplace assessment surveys to identify workplace hazards and employers’ violations of health and safety regulations. Every workplace assessment completed identified violations of farmworker protections, such as lack of pesticide training; lack of drinking water, and water, soap, and paper towels for washing hands; and lack of training for pesticide handlers and applicators. All of the surveys have been submitted to DACS and DOH for further inspection and enforcement of farmworker protections.

Also, in October, the newly formed Legislative Commission on Migrant and Seasonal Labor held its first meeting with farmworker groups to hear about the problems of farmworker communities -- including pesticide exposure, health problems, access to health care, housing, transportation, labor contractor abuses, access to higher education, as well as other issues. The Commission also scheduled meetings in November and December, primarily to focus on farmworker health issues, enforcement of farmworker health and safety protections, and disaster response/relief in farmworker communities.

To learn more about this and other issues pertaining to farmworkers, visit www.thefarmworkerassociationofflorida.org

For more information, or a free brochure, contact the main office in Apopka at 407/886-5151 or apopkafwaf@aol.com.

Return to Top

REAL STORIES

April 3, 2006

To share your own story, click here.

Lindsay Phillips, Florida Panhandle mother of two children with special health care needs, shares this story of her experience with KidCare:

I was enrolled in the Florida KidCare program previously when I did not have access to affordable health insurance. My husband secured a job where health insurance was offered so I disenrolled in the KidCare Program until recently. Then my husband had switched jobs where there was no health insurance offered so I had to enroll my kids back in the Florida KidCare program.

I faxed in the application in October of 2005. I called to check on the status of my application in October and was told that my account was active effective November 1, 2005 and that I needed to fill out a renewal form. So KidCare faxed me a renewal form and I filled it out and refaxed it back to them.

Then in February of 2006 I was notified by KidCare that I had to fill out another renewal form and fax it to them even though I had just filled one out back in October. It said I could send in a variety of information including my most recent taxes. So I sent them my most recent taxes and then I just received a letter stating that they also needed my pay stubs or a letter from my employer saying how much it was that I make and my husband makes because they could not determine on the taxes how much I made and how much my husband made.

Then I received a letter dated March 3 from the Children’s Medical Services program stating that my son was no longer in the KidCare program or CMS and that I needed to contact KidCare to find out why. So I contacted KidCare and they said he was active and always been since I enrolled him back in November so he should still be on the Children’s Medical Services program. So I contacted the CMS program and they said they didn’t know why it was sent, that sometimes mistakes are made and that they would check on it.

I called the KidCare Program back to ask some questions about my renewal and they told me, that as my son had was in pending status, to switch over to MediKids and to be taken off of CMS. And I said that was impossible because he has multiple disabilities that I know the MediKids program does not want to pay for. So I called CMS back and left a message for the intake clerk and she called me back and told me that the Program Office had called her and that he had been taken off by accident by them and that they would rectify the situation and put him back on. Then Gail Vail from the CMS Program office contacted me because I had contacted her about this situation and she stated that it was her fault and that she had done in on mistake.

It takes A LOT to stay enrolled in this program. There is constant miscommunication between KidCare and the health plans and lots of wrong information being given out.

Return to Top

RECENT HEALTH ADVOCACY ARTICLES

April 3, 2006

STATE ISSUES

KidCare

Legislature 2006: Developments from day 25, March 31

The drop in KidCare enrollment has given rise to one of the most contentious debates of the legislature's effort to write a state budget for the coming year. (3/31/06, Palm Beach Post)

OPINION: Funding the future: Lawmakers should find money for children

Children don't address legislative committees and they don't lobby. That puts them at risk of being short-changed. That risk could become reality this year . . . . Lawmakers are already squeezing dollars from . . . Florida KidCare. . . , Lawmakers say the cuts are justified by decreases in enrollment. That argument comes perilously close to duplicity, since the Legislature cut the money meant for local programs to publicize the program. Instead of cutting children's health care, lawmakers should focus on ways to ensure more children have coverage. (3/30/06, Daytona Beach News-Journal)

OPINION: Grow up about KidCare

Children whose parents work but cannot afford health insurance cannot endure another year of the Legislature's indifference. The ugly legislative ritual started this way: Make it hard for parents to enroll their children in Florida's KidCare health insurance subsidy program, then cap enrollment and cut financing. (3/28/06, Palm Beach Post)

KidCare program could lose millionsRepublicans propose cuts in the children's insurance plan after money goes unused

Republicans in the Legislature plan to slash millions of unspent dollars from Florida's KidCare health-insurance program, angering child-care advocates who say the state has failed to reach out to thousands of families eligible for the low-cost coverage that pays for doctor visits and hospital stays. (3/28/06, Orlando Sentinel)

Analysis of emergency calls in Pompano shows elderly, poor wait longest

(link no longer active)

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel analyzed the Pompano Beach Fire Rescue Department's dispatch logs for 2004 and 2005 and found wide differences in the time it takes paramedics to respond to pleas for help, depending on the neighborhood. Response consistently crosses the deadly six-minute threshold in areas such as the northwest, where most of the city's poor residents live, and Palm Aire, which is largely a retirement community. (3/30/06, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

OPINION: Invest in healthy kids, Florida's future

KIDCARE IS A PROVEN SUCCESS, WORTHY OF SUPPORT

If the Legislature tried, it couldn't come up with a better strategy for gutting KidCare, the state's health insurance for needy children, which also attracts significant federal dollars. In the last two years, legislators created administrative hurdles to discourage enrollment. Now they are moving to cut funding next year because -- surprise -- not enough children are enrolling. This is wrong and unacceptable. (3/22/06, Miami Herald)

Farmworkers Make Progress

. . . . Immigrant children also have health-care problems. The federal government doesn't provide matching funds for them to participate in Florida's KidCare program that provides health insurance to needy children. Florida used to permit immigrant children in the program if another child dropped out. In 2004, the Legislature passed a bill that no longer allowed immigrant children to fill a vacant slot. Rep. Mike Davis, R-Naples, is sponsoring a bill that would allow them to get back into the program. (3/21/06, Lakeland Ledger)

Other State Health Issues

Florida Suspends Paperwork Changes That Resulted in Denial of Medicaid Coverage for Nutritional Supplements for Many Beneficiaries

Alan Levine, Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration's secretary, said he has indefinitely suspended changes made to Medicaid paperwork that caused more than 1,000 children with severe disabilities or chronic illnesses to be denied coverage for nutritional supplements. (3/26/06, Kaiser Network)

Many children were eliminated from a program that pays for food supplements for chronically ill Floridians.

More than a thousand severely disabled or chronically ill children who relied on state dollars for life-sustaining nutritional supplements have been cut off from Florida's Medicaid program, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings to the agency, state officials acknowledged Thursday. Medicaid officials said they made ''major policy changes'' that limited the number of Floridians eligible for the feeding program -- including children with HIV or AIDS who suffer from so-called ''wasting syndrome'' and children and adults with terminal illnesses such as cystic fibrosis. (3/24/06, Miami Herald)

OPINION: Health of vulnerable Floridians at riskMEDICAID POLICIES BLOCK ACCESS TO NEEDED TREATMENT

Whatever the reason thatseverely sick and disabled children and other Medicaid recipients haven't been getting needed nutritional supplements, the result is the same: The state puts their health at risk by denying medically necessary treatment and will spend more on their care when they end up in hospitals due to complications. (3/14/06, Miami Herald)

Parents say children in Medicaid plan are refused treatment by HMOs

A growing number of low-income, developmentally disabled children in Florida's Medicaid program are being denied physical, speech and other therapy by South Florida HMOs, parents and therapists say. (3/25/06, South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

NATIONAL ISSUES

Medicare and Medicaid

AHCA Letter Urges House To Follow Senate Lead In Rejecting Medicare, Medicaid Cuts, USA

In a letter sent to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives and members of the House Budget Committee, the American Health Care Association today urged the House to follow the U.S. Senate's lead in rejecting Medicare and Medicaid cuts that will place quality patient care in jeopardy, and undermine nursing home quality gains achieved since 2002. (3/31/06, Medical News Today)

Retirees on 2 Drug Plans Must Make Choice

Hundreds of thousands of Medicare beneficiaries listed on the rolls of two prescription drug plans were notified that they would soon be dropped from one. (3//28/06, New York Times)

For Some Who Manage to Solve Puzzle, New Medicare Drug Plan Is Paying Off

They are not vocal, they are not organized, but Medicare's satisfied customers say it was worth wading through the hassles. (3/26/06, New York Times)

Drug plan still beset with problems

President Bush has headed to the hinterlands to boast on and boost his much-ballyhooed - and often-derided - Medicare prescription drug program. Unfortunately, the president's Johnny-come-lately efforts are obviously more politically motivated than public-service driven, with the Democrats planning to make the botched launch of the largest health-care entitlement program since the 1960s a major campaign issue with seniors in this fall's elections. (3/23/06, Ocala Star-Banner)

50% Medicaid Enrollment Increase Over Last Five Years

USA Today reports that Medicaid enrollment increases over the last five years were over 50%, higher than any other major government program. According to the findings, Medicaid enrollment increased 50.4% from 2000 to 2005 and spending reached $198 billion. (3/13/06, USA Today)

Health Insurance and Costs

"Covering the Uninsured" is a Flawed Moral Frame

That we Americans should so prodigally spend our common resources for health care (an annual expenditure greater than France's entire Gross Domestic Product) and exclude from this care more U.S. residents than there are citizens in Canada—this is an outrage that demands change. Because this injustice is so outrageous, it can appear to be at the heart of the moral challenge. (March-April, 2006, Health Progress)

Study Backs Equal Coverage for Mental Ills

Providing insurance coverage for mental illness equal to that for physical illness does not drive up the cost of mental health care as many insurers feared, a new study says. (3/30/06, New York Times)

Smaller Percentage of Doctors Provide Charity Care to the Uninsured

The proportion of doctors providing charity care to the uninsured has declined over the past decade, while the number of uninsured has risen significantly, according to a new survey from the Center for Studying Health System Change, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (3/23/06, Washington Post)

Vital Signs: Disparities: Care After Heart Attack Appears Less Than Equal

Women, members of minorities and the very elderly are less likely to receive the most effective care after a heart attack. (3/21/06, New York Times)

Nonprofit Hospitals Face Scrutiny Over Practices

Congressional leaders, concerned that many nonprofit hospitals are not providing enough charity care, say they will set standards if the industry does not do so itself. (3/19/06, New York Times)

Governors on Divergent Paths to Control Health Costs

From coast to coast, Democratic and Republican governors are pursuing divergent policies to control healthcare costs and expand access to services. In the process, they are grappling with the same basic question facing Washington: Should government attempt to reinforce the existing system under which most Americans receive health insurance as part of large groups, or tilt the nation toward an approach that shifts more control, but also more financial burden and risk, to individuals? (3/17/06, Los Angeles Times)

OPINION: Modest Health Care Reforms Should Be Tried Before a Single-Payer System

The "nightmarish complexity and administrative costs of the current fragmented [American health care] system" would better be solved with modest, incremental reforms than with a wholesale conversion to a single-payer, government-run system, writes Washington Post columnist Michael Kinsley. (3/17/06, Washington Post)

N.J. to Insure 'Kids' to Age 30

In New Jersey, you can be a kid until you're 30 — or at least you can be a dependent on a parent's health insurance plan. The "age of dependency" — when young adults can no longer be covered under parents' insurance — is becoming a moving target as states aim to reduce the number of residents who have no insurance. A new law in New Jersey, which takes effect in May, raises the age to 30, the oldest in the nation. But six other states — Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, South Dakota, Texas and Utah — also have expanded coverage in the past couple of years to 24, 25 or 26. (3/15/06, USA Today)

Union Cites Wal-Mart Worker Reliance on State Aid

More workers at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. than any other company in at least 19 states are relying on government health-care assistance, the AFL-CIO said in a report issued on Tuesday. In its report, the 54-union federation portrays Wal-Mart, the country's largest employer with 1.39 million workers, as a key contributor to states' exploding cost of Medicaid, which provides health-care coverage to the poor. (3/14/06, Reuters)

Other Health Issues

Negotiation on Tobacco Payment

States and tobacco companies disagree on whether the companies may reduce their payments from a 1998 legal settlement. (3/29/06, New York Times)

Vital Signs: Reactions: In Children, Rise in Bacteria Is Linked to Smoke

Children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke appear to be more likely to be infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae than those who are not. (3/21/06, New York Times)

Cleaner Air Brings Drop in Death Rate

For each decrease of 1 microgram of soot per cubic meter of air, death rates from cardiovascular disease, respiratory illness and lung cancer decrease by 3 percent. (3/21/06, New York Times)

The Politics of Fat

Experts say our expanding girth is killing us and costing the health-care system billions. But is this a problem government can solve? Or should? The debate grows as we do. (3/22/06, Time Magazine)

Return to Top

HEALTH ADVOCACY RESOURCES

April 3, 2006

FLORIDA CHAIN WEBSITE RESOURCES UPDATE

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

ORGANIZATIONS AND SERVICES

MANUALS, GUIDES, AND TOOLKITS

TECHNOLOGY AND AUDIO VISUAL RESOURCES

Audioconferences and Webcasts

Media Programming

Web Sites, Web Features

Videos

PERIODICALS

REPORTS AND STUDIES

New Listings

Florida Reports

Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

Federal Budget/Health Care

Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform

Health Equity Issues

Other Health Issues

FLORIDA CHAIN WEB SITE RESOURCE UPDATE

Provider’s Guide to Immigration Issues Regarding Florida KidCare

Florida CHAIN has posted The Refugee and Entrant Project's one page guide that answers many frequently asked questions about Florida KidCare that are specific to refugee families. For additional support, it also provides a list of Florida KidCare hotline numbers.

The Florida CHAIN web site now includes resource information in Spanish. To access, click here.

GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Listed in chronological order of submission deadlines.

National Association of Hispanic Nurses Education and Service Awards
Deadline: April 15, 2006
The National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) announced the following two awards: 1) Ildaura Murillo-Rohde Award for Education Excellence and 2) Henrietta Villaescusa Community Service Award. Eligible applicants include Hispanic Nurses who are NHN members. Applicants for the Education award should have distinguished themselves in scholarship and nursing education. Applicants for the Service award should have contributed to the improvement of health in the Hispanic community.

Community Participation In Research

Letter of Intent deadline: April 17, 2006

This National Institues of Health funding is to support research on health promotion, disease prevention, and health disparities that is jointly conducted by communities and researchers. Community-based participatory research is scientific inquiry conducted in communities and in partnership with researchers. Community members, persons affected by the health condition, disability or issue under study, or other key stakeholders in the community's health have the opportunity to be full participants in each phase of the work.

US Conference of Mayors and Dupont -- Lead-Safe for Kids’ Sake Grants

Deadline: April 21, 2006

Cities United for Science Progress, a partnership between The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Dupont, has announced the Lead-Safe?for Kids’ Sake grant program. Grants are given to cities that propose, develop, and implement strategies to reduce lead hazards and better prevent childhood lead poisoning. Applicants must be members of the USCM. CUSP will award $175,000 to the city with the most outstanding lead-safe strategy and $100,000 each to two finalists.

Broward Regional Health Planning Council Inc Hispanic Persons Living with HIV/AIDS study.

Application Deadline: April 21, 2006

The purpose of this study is to investigate access, retention, adherence and barriers to primary medical care for Hispanic persons living with HIVAIDS for those who are in and not in primary medical care. Additionally, the study should determine to what extent language, legal status/ documentation, race, transportation, and degree of acculturation impact each identified goal area.

CDC Price Fellowships for HIV Prevention

Application deadline: April 21, 2006

These Fellowships provide three nongovernmental organization (NGO) leaders with the opportunity to visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta to learn about HIV prevention at the national level. This program provides an opportunity to facilitate exchange about important HIV/AIDS prevention issues between NGO leaders and CDC personnel, state and local health department representatives, and other US NGO leaders. During the month-long fellowship (July 31 - August 25, 2006), participants complete a project or pursue a special interest.

Robert Wood Johnson Speaking Together: National Language Services Network Grants

Deadline: April 26, 2006

Speaking Together: National Language Services Network, a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program, will work with hospitals to improve the quality and availability of healthcare language services for patients with limited English proficiency. Up to ten sites will be selected to participate in the sixteen-month collaborative learning network. Each site will receive a grant of up to $60,000 and technical assistance and training.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Call for Proposals: Childhood Obesity

Active Living Research—Round 6

Application deadline: May 10, 2006

Active Living Research is a $12.5 million national program to stimulate and support research that will identify environmental factors and policies that influence physical activity. Findings are expected to inform environmental and policy changes that will promote active living among Americans, both young and old.

Community Dentistry Award

Deadline: May 15, 2006

The American Dental Association's Council on Access, Prevention, and Interprofessional Relations is now accepting entries for its 2006 Community Dentistry Award. Not-for-profit programs in the United States or its territories are eligible. The Community Dentistry Award recognizes programs that focus on improving oral health at the community level. The program is designed to foster and recognize community oral health programs that include a preventive dentistry component.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation -- Local Initiative Funding Partners

Deadline: July 6, 2006 (Stage I)

Local Initiative Funding Partners (LIFP) is a partnership program between the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and local grantmakers to fund projects to improve the health and health care of vulnerable people in their communities. Projects must be new, innovative, collaborative and community based, and must be nominated by a local grantmaker interested in participating as a funding partner. Up to $6 million in funding is available for 14 matching grants of $200,000 to $500,000. Eligible applicants are local funding partners, including independent and private foundations, family and community foundations, and corporate and other philanthropies.

2006 Regional Community Health Grants Program

The Aetna Foundation will fund philanthropic initiatives focused on the following health care issues: Childhood Health, Obesity (including diabetes)and Oral Health, and Depression.

American Heart Association, Clinton Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to Help Schools Create a Healthier Environment for Nation's Students

Applications for the program will be available beginning July 1, 2006

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has announced a new collaboration with schools to create environments that foster healthy lifestyles and prevent overweight and obesity among students. The Alliance works to address the issues that contribute to childhood obesity and to inspire all young Americans to develop lifelong healthy habits. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded the Alliance $8 million to support the Healthy Schools Program.

Alzheimer’s or Related Dementia Group Respite Program Seed Grants

Deadline: July 6, 2006

The Brookdale Foundation's National Group Respite Program awards seed grants to organizations to develop and implement social model group respite programs. These day programs serve elders with Alzheimer's disease or related dementia and their family caregivers.

Directory Of Health Policy Fellowships

This Kaiser directory contains new listings for undergraduates, graduate students and professionals searching for summer, school-year, or post-doctoral positions.

ORGANZATIONS AND SERVICES

Newly posted resources are at the top of the list.

Access to Benefits Coalition

The nonprofit ABC is dedicated to ensuring that Medicare beneficiaries with limited incomes know about and make the best use of all available resources for accessing prescription drugs and reducing their costs. ABC is working through local community coalitions to inform beneficiaries and their families, as well as the professionals who serve them, about Medicare Part-D. Extra Help is provided online or in person; find out if you or someone qualifies by going to BenefitsCheckUpRx?. Publications include: Applying for the Low-Income Subsidy: A Tool Kit for Advocates; and Pathways to Success: Meeting the Challenge of Enrolling Medicare Beneficiaries with Limited Incomes

Medicare Rights Center (MRC) is a comprehensive independent source of health care information and assistance for older adults and people with disabilities. Multiple services include: a telephone hotline; a database of case advice; education and training; public policy work; electronic newsletters; and communications with local and national media outlets. Publications include:

Questions to Ask when Considering a Medicare Health Plan; What do I need to know about the new drug benefit if I am in a Medicare HMO or other private health plan?; Medicare: A National Treasure for 40 Years.

The Long-Term Care Champions Network is seeking to raise public awareness on this important issue, and needs your help. There is no cost to join the Champions Network; they just want to hear your story. If we continue to let Congress ignore this issue, our financial and health security could be jeopardized. For more information, click here.

The National Hispanic Resource Help-Line 1/800-473-3003 provides support for Latinos throughout the nation who need information about educational, health and human service providers. They provide early intervention and resource support for people in times of personal and family crisis through education, referrals, affirmation, advocacy, collaborative planning and problem solving. To become part of their database, click here.

MANUALS, GUIDES, TOOLKITS

Newly posted resources are at the top of the list.

Applying for the Low-Income Subsidy: A Tool Kit for Advocates
Access to Benefits Coalition provides these Tools You Can Use to help people apply for the extra help available through the new Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage.

Families USA is offering a new resource, Making Public Programs Work for Communities of Color: An Action Kit for Community Leaders, from its Minority Health Initiatives Department. The kit provides community leaders with information, tools, and resources to engage in health advocacy and improve the health and well being of their communities. Emphasizing the importance of public programs in reducing racial and ethnic health disparities, the kit contains: a summary and statistics of racial and ethnic health disparities and the role public programs can play in reducing them; an overview of Medicaid (and SCHIP) and Medicare, including their relationships to communities of color; fact sheets on improving health coverage for racial and ethnic minority groups; state and local case studies on health advocacy; advocacy tools including a powerpoint presentation, and lists of organizations and publications. Contact: 202/628-3030 or rpanares@familiesusa.org.

2005-2006 Marketing and Public Relations Tool Kit now available

Healthy Kids asks users to please forward updates on items used, including how they were used, numbers distributed and feedback on effectiveness. Call center staff need to be aware of any efforts so they know which items are out in each community and are prepared to address questions. To make changes or additions to any design or use the trademarked logos or phone numbers, prior approval is required to ensure that accurate information is distributed. Send requests to floyda@healthykids.org or fax to 850/224-0615.

Health Literacy Fact Sheets

This series of nine fact sheets was created for those who are designing patient education materials for consumers with low health literacy skills. The sheets define health literacy, describe its impact on health outcomes, provide strategies to prepare appropriate educational materials to assist low-literate consumers, and provide resources for additional health literacy information and publications.

The Medicaid Matters web site is a resource for people working across the country to protect Medicaid, the health insurance that 50 million rely on. It stores a ready-to-use toolkit of messages, materials and dissemination ideas. Users are able to download, at no cost, tested messages emphasizing the importance of Medicaid and the threat now facing the program. Messages are enhanced by high quality, full color photography. One set of materials is designed to be ready to print. Once downloaded, they can be forwarded to any print house or copy shop without any further formatting. The second set of materials is designed so that components of the product can be adapted to suit the needs of that organization or constituency that wishes to use them.

Turning the Tide: Why Acting on Inequity Can Help Reduce Chronic Diseases, a tool kit now available from the Public Health Agency of Canada's Atlantic Regional Office, is designed to support the use of the document, The Tides of Change: Addressing Inequity and Chronic Disease in Atlantic Canada; A Discussion Paper. The package was produced for use by community organizations in examining their work and policies and contains a variety of hands-on resources for use in presentations and group discussions.

Trends and Indicators in the Changing Health Care Marketplace is an online chartbook that presents up-to-date information on key health care marketplace trends. The chartbook highlights national health expenditures, health care spending and costs, employee and retiree health coverage, HMO enrollment, hospital data, and public views on topics such as managed care, medical errors, and quality information.

TECHNOLOGY AND AUDIO/VIDEO RESOURCES

Audio Conferences and Webcasts

Dated events listed chronologically; standing webcasts listed last

Families USA Conference Call on the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act (HIMMA, S.1955, a.ka. the "Enzi Bill")

April 4 3:00 pm ET

The so-called Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization Act (HIMMA, S.1955, a.ka. the "Enzi Bill"), one of the most far-reaching and dangerous pieces of private health insurance market legislation in recent memory, has already passed through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and may be introduced on the floor within the next weeks. The bill would strip away mandated benefits, access, and nondiscrimination rules that states have passed over the past decades. It would have devastating effects not only on the small business health care market, but also the entire state-regulated private health care market -- negatively affecting 85 million Americans. Click Here to RSVP.

National Public Health Week Kick-off Event

Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids

April 4 10:00 am ET at kaisernetwork.org

Webcast of the APHA briefing that will open National Public Health Week 2006. The program will highlight the five problems and five solutions facing communities as they relate to children's health and the built environment. The audience will hear from members of five communities across the country that have successfully implemented these solutions, and serve as models for others to build healthier communities and raise healthier kids.

Ask the Experts About Children's Health Care – kaisernetwork Webcast

April 4 2:00 pm ET at kaisernetwork.org

A panel of experts will answer questions about the policy issues facing children’s health care during a live webcast. Issues covered will include children’s health care financing, expanding access and coverage, disparities and more. The panel of experts will take phone calls and emails. Send questions in advance to ask@kaisernetwork.org or call 1-888/524-7378 during the live broadcast. The program is accessible via webcast on the Internet and not via teleconference. If you have not viewed a webcast before, test your media player in advance.

Telephonic Health Coaching: How It Can Improve Your Population Health Management Programs

April 5, 2006 -- 1:30-3:00 p.m. (EST)

This audio conference will take an in-depth look at telephonic health coaching programs, from program structure to call strategies to outcomes measurement and results. Health coaching programs can help individuals in need of care management services take a more active and effective role in the management of their own healthcare. Telephonic health coaching services, while unique in its challenges, provides a convenient way to offer accessible health coaching services.

Acts of Charity: Charity Care Strategies for Hospitals in a Changing Landscape
April 20, 2006 Based on a survey and other analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, this ACHI audio conference will convey up-to-date information about the fast-moving subject of charity care in the context of community benefit. Join it to learn about the current state of practice, and to hear and discuss recommended strategies.

Best Practices: Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language Data Collection to Improve Quality of Care for Diverse Populations – Audio Conference

April 27 2:00-3:00 pm Central Time (rescheduled)

Health care disparities occur within a wide range of health care settings including hospitals, emergency departments, clinics, and doctors' offices, and across a broad range of conditions. Hear Dr. Anne Beal, Program on Quality of Care for Underserved Populations and Dr. Romana Hasnain-Wynia, Health Research & Educational Trust discuss disparities in health care and best practices for collecting data on race, ethnicity, and primary language to help improve quality of care. Click here for more information.

Dental Care Access and Prevention Strategies

May 18, 2006 ACHI audio conference

Operation Access: Providing Donated Outpatient Surgery to Uninsured People

June 15, 2006 ACHI audio conference

ACHI Spring Training for Health Champions Conference Sessions
(March 14-16, 2006) Download and view more than 30 presentation files from the meeting.

Catholic Health Association/VHA Community Benefit Conference Session Presentations
This year's conference highlighted the core components of community benefit programming with a special focus on program evaluation, how to count community benefits and innovation in the field.

The Causes and Policy Implications of Rising Health Care Spending
Webcast of panelists at this Brookings Institution event discussing President Bush's health care policies that will expand the use of health savings accounts in an effort to place more responsibility on individuals.

Media Programming

"60 Minutes" Targets Hospitals' Billing of the Uninsured

"60 Minutes" segment transcript
"60 Minutes" responses to segment transcript

Connect with Kids TV Program on Obesity Prevention

Connect with Kids, with CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, and Florida’s Department of Health have developed a 30-minute television program focusing on the obesity epidemic among youth. The program, titled “The Biggest Generation” will be available for airing nationwide beginning March 15, 2006. To see when the stations have scheduled the show, click here and then click on the upcoming programs link at the bottom of the page. If your local station is not listed and you are interested in promoting the program to your local television station, call 404/459-8081 ext 105.

Web Sites, Web Features & Databases

Newest postings are listed at the top of State and National Web Resources sections below

State Web Resources

DCF Offers Medicare Part D Powerpoints Re: Persons with Mental Illness

Florida Department of Children and Families has made available powerpoint presentations used on a December 2nd Video Teleconference sponsored by the Florida Department of Children and Families, Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and Florida National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The first is an overview of the new Medicare Part D (pharmacy benefit), the second about Medicare pharmacy plans and the third about steps for low income Medicare beneficiaries to get extra help from Social Security in paying for pharmacy benefits. Other portals link to CMS for information about the Medicare Part D pharmacy plans, benefits and enrollment; and a Social Security website for low income persons who have Medicare ONLY and need to apply for extra help in paying for Part D pharmacy benefits. The Florida SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elderly) program is a statewide, volunteer based program that provides free information, counseling and assistance on Medicare (including Part D), Medicaid and Medicare supplemental insurance. SHINE can be accessed at 1/800-963-5337.

Florida Kids insurance application can be done online

Families wanting to apply for the state's health insurance program for children can now apply online. Florida Healthy Kids has redesigned its Web site at www.healthykids.org to allow people to apply electronically for the KidCare programs, which include Healthy Kids, Children's Medical Services and MediKids. (2/16/06, Daytona News-Journal) More

Website Offers Free 24 Hour Health Information to Floridians to address concerns and inquiries

The Florida Department of Health (DOH) Secretary encourages health care consumers to visit www.FLHealthSource.com whenever they need information about a licensed health care professional. DOH’s Division of Medical Quality Assurance (MQA) maintains FLHealthSource.com. The site provides health care consumers with a host of information, including license status, office address, and disciplinary information for all health care professionals licensed in Florida.

The site also provides additional information for the five profiled professions –medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, chiropractic physicians, podiatric physicians and advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs).

Medicare/Medically Needy Poster for Clinics
Florida Transplant Survivors Coalition, Inc. offers on their website a poster suitable for posting in clinics, Pharmacies and other centers where the Medicare/ Medically Needy benefit recipient visits. Since the 20% copay in cancer and anti-rejections drugs is still not part of any state plan to aid us, all are encouraged to download this poster.

Statehealthfacts.org provides free, up-to-date, and easy-to-use health data on all 50 states, covering more than 500 health topics.

Florida Progressive Information Network (FLPIN)

offers a nonpartisan communication system designed to link progressive organizers with progressive activists. Individuals may sign up free of charge to receive alerts on a variety of progressive issues from other organizations participating in the Network. In order to make FLPIN work, it must be used on a regular basis. The more information put in, the more valuable it is as a tool. Link FLPIN to organization websites. A training manual is at www.flpin.net/alert.pdf. For more information or assistance, contact jen@floridahumanist.org

National Web Resources

Immigrant Health Policy Reference Library
This new compendium summarizes data and research on immigrants’ health coverage and access to care. The library also includes a list of organizations that conduct analysis on the impact of major health policies on immigrants and presents research on specific populations, including Latino, African and Asian immigrants.

Health Coverage and the Uninsured - Updated Tutorial

Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, this tutorial has been updated and expanded to include the latest national and state-level data on insurance coverage. It also now includes current policy proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured and criteria for evaluating the different proposals.

Medicare/Medicaid Dual Eligibles Tutorial
This new narrated slide tutorial provides an overview of dual eligibles -- beneficiaries covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. The tutorial presents a profile of dual eligibles, reviews eligibility, benefits and financing for duals, and discusses their transition into the new Medicare prescription drug coverage program.

Medicaid Fact Sheets Tool

Compare your state's Medicaid program and the population it serves to other states and the nation by visiting Kaiser's new interactive online State Medicaid Fact Sheets tool.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Part-D Resources

CMS fact sheet that addresses Medicare Part D and homeless clients

Recently revised "Medicare Basics: A Guide for Families and Friends of People with Medicare," CMS publication # 11034.

New Fact Sheet for Physicians on Part-D Transition Policy and Exceptions and Appeals Processes

Interactive Tools on Medicaid

The Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured presents the State Medicaid Fact Sheets and the Medicaid Benefits Online Database, two interactive tools featuring the latest key data, information and services provided for each state’s Medicaid program. Both tools allow for easy access to the data which can then be printed, saved and emailed.

2006 Federal Poverty Guidelines

The Southern Institute on Children and Families, National Program Office for Covering Kids & Families has made available the 2006 Federal Poverty Guidelines. Compiled from the 2006 HHS Poverty Guidelines, these guidelines provide income levels for families at 50%, 100%, 125%, 133%, 150%, 185% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Level.

Primer on Low-Income Working Families

Many low-income working families live one health crisis or job setback away from catastrophe. Some barely make ends meet despite "playing by the rules," and more than 9 million working families with children lead this precarious existence. Yet, we know little about their dynamics. This Urban Institute web feature provides a foundation for better understanding this at-risk population.

Healthcare Coverage Options Database: Assistance for Obtaining Health Coverage

This Web site provides information on health insurance options for low-income U.S. residents. The site includes comprehensive information on large-scale programs like Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and the federal Health Care Tax Credit Program, as well as hundreds of smaller state, federal, and private programs.

Videos

Public Health Foundation Media Resources

Several publications and videos related to minority health are now available through the Public Health Foundation's (PHF) online bookstore. Topics include: breastfeeding promotion in minority communities, epidemiology of diabetes, social determinants of health, neighborhoods and health disparities, as well as introductory Spanish for the healthcare worker. For a full list of resources on minority health, go to PHF's Learning Resource Center, click here.

PERIODICALS

Health Benefits Newsletter

Titles include: Variety of Strategies Needed to Curb Health Costs; Lower Medical Bills Through Health Coaching; Unveiling the True Cost of Health Care - For a Price; Obesity and Diabetes Rates Soar Among Hispanics, and Employers More Aware of Behavioral Risks.

Childhood Obesity Issue of Princeton/Brookings Future of Children Journal

The Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University and the Brookings Institution are pleased to announce the release of the newest volume of their jointly published journal, The Future of Children, Childhood Obesity. This issue features nine articles on the high and rising rates of overweight and obesity among U.S. children, presenting evidence on the multiple causes, consequences, and methods of dealing with the growing problem.

Kaiser Family Foundation offers a weekly Medicare Q&A column that is being distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News. The column answers questions from readers related to the new Medicare drug benefit.

The National Center for Health Education (NCHE) has posted its March/April '06 Volume 5, Issue 2 of the NCHE Growing Healthy Youth, Parents and Communities (YPC) newsletter. You’ll also find activities for students, current health research, heath education resources, funding opportunities, upcoming events, and NCHE news.

REPORTS AND STUDIES

New Listings

New Listings: Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

50% Medicaid Enrollment Increase Over Last Five Years

New Listings: Federal Budget/Health Care

The House Budget Committee’s New Budget Plan: A Brief Analysis

This Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analysis finds the House Budget Committee's budget plan harsher than the Senate plan in several respects. The House plan would cut funding for domestic “discretionary” (or non-entitlement) programs by $8.8 billion in fiscal year 2007 and $169 billion over five years, relative to CBO's current-services baseline. The plan also would reduce entitlement programs by $5.1 billion over five years. The savings from these program reductions would not, however, be used for deficit reduction. They would instead be used to offset a portion of the cost of the budget plan’s $228 billion in tax cuts, as well as its defense spending increases. The net result would be significant further increases in the deficit. The plan would increase the deficit over the next five years by $256 billion above what deficits would be if current policy was left unchanged.

New Listings: Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform

The Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey: Assessing Congressional Policy Priorities

Expanding coverage to the uninsured should be Congress's top health care policy priority for the next five years, say a majority of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund Opinion Leaders survey--just as they said a year ago when asked about health care policy priorities. Leaders also agreed, once again, that one of the best ways to expand coverage to the uninsured is to allow individuals and small businesses to buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or a similar federal group option. [Jan-Feb 2006, Harris Interactive Survey)

US Physician Charity Care Continues Decade-Long Decline

The proportion of US physicians providing charity care dropped 8 percentage points in the last decade, falling to 68 percent of physicians in 2004-05 from 76 percent in 1996-97, according to a national study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change. The drop in physician charity care occurred as the number of uninsured Americans grew to 45.5 million in 2004, signaling growing stress on the health care safety net. (3/23/06, Center for Health System Change)

Advocacy group to post hospitals' pricing policies for the uninsured

Consejo de Latinos Unidos (Council of United Latinos) announced plans to establish a Web site where it will post hospitals' pricing policies for the uninsured and monitor whether hospitals are complying with and informing uninsured patients about their discount and pricing policies. Consejo has close ties to Archie Lamb, a class-action trial lawyer who along with Richard Scruggs has sued hundreds of hospitals across the country challenging hospitals' tax-exempt status and alleging unfair billing and collection practices. Nearly all of the federal lawsuits have been dismissed or withdrawn. (3/16/06, American Hospital Association NewsNow)

New Listings: Health Equity Issues

Examining the Health Disparities Research Plan of the National Institutes of Health: Unfinished Business

The range of diseases and conditions for which there are differences spans virtually all biomedical disciplines. There are complex, interrelated social, economic, behavioral, health care and other environmental aspects - and the differences, their features, and the roles of contributing factors vary among affected populations and subpopulations. The review committee sees the opportunity and need for NIH to focus even more on health disparities as a research entity and move knowledge and understanding forward as no other agency or setting can. (Board on Health Sciences Policy 2006 US National Academies of Sciences)

Latino Health Care Is Being Left Behind

The recent National Healthcare Quality Report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that overall quality of care for Americans improved at a rate of 2.8 percent. It sounds small, but that's actually quite impressive for a nationwide improvement. For Latinos, however, quality of care worsened. (3/21/06, San Francisco Chronicle)

Latino Doctors Partner with HHS to Tackle Health Disparities

To tackle health disparities and soaring obesity and diabetes rates among Latinos, the National Hispanic Medical Association is partnering on an initiative with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health (OMH) to develop leadership training, education and outreach programs to improve Hispanic health. (3/20/06, Hispanic PR Wire)

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of the Effectiveness of Community-Based Case Management in Insuring Uninsured Latino Children

Uninsured children were assigned randomly to an intervention group with trained case managers or a control group that received traditional Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) outreach and enrollment. Case managers provided information on program eligibility, helped families complete insurance applications, acted as a family liaison with Medicaid/SCHIP, and assisted in maintaining coverage. Intervention group children were significantly more likely to obtain health insurance and had 8 times the adjusted odds of obtaining insurance. (12/05, Pediatrics)

Who Is at Greatest Risk for Receiving Poor-Quality Health Care?

American adults frequently do not receive recommended health care. The extent to which the quality of health care varies among sociodemographic groups is unknown. The study used data from medical records and telephone interviews of a random sample of people living in 12 communities to assess the quality of care received by those who had made at least one visit to a health care provider during the previous two years. The differences among sociodemographic subgroups in the observed quality of health care are small in comparison with the gap for each subgroup between observed and desirable quality of health care. (3/16/06, New England Journal of Medicine)

New England Journal of Medicine Faces Challenge from Health Experts

Researchers, advocates and lawmakers question study that minimizes race-based health disparities (3/16/06, Applied Research Center)

Health Status of Children in Immigrant Families

Children who are born in the United States to noncitizen parents, foreign-born children with noncitizen parents, and foreign-born children who are naturalized citizens are all likely to have limited access to health

insurance and health care. (April 2006, American Journal of Public Health)

Burden of Disease Associated with Being African-American in the United States and the Contribution of Socio-Economic Status

The burden of disease associated with being African-American in the US, and the contribution of socio-economic status (SES) to that burden have not been quantified. The study found SES differences between African-Americans and whites appeared to explain all the Health Related Quality of Life disparity but only half the mortality disparity. Better understanding of the disparate effects of SES may inform interventions to address health disparities adversely affecting African-Americans. (May 2006, Social Science & Medicine)

Methods for Measuring Cancer Disparities: A Review Using Data Relevant to Healthy People 2010 Cancer-Related Objectives

Healthy People 2010 has two overarching goals: to increase the span of healthy life and to eliminate health disparities across the categories of gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, and sexual orientation. This report raises some conceptual issues and reviews different methodological approaches germane to measuring progress toward the goal of eliminating cancer-related health disparities.

Reaching an Immigrant Population

Saint Francis Medical Center listened to its Latin American immigrant community and answered with a number of innovative programs to improve communication, services and wellness. (March 2006, Hospitals & Health Care Networks)

New Listings: Other Health Issues

Reflections on a Decade of Tracking Health System Change

Lots of change; little progress on slowing cost growth or improving care quality and access

In the commentary, Ginsburg and coauthor Cara S. Lesser, HSC director of site visits, point out that in the course of all the "mergers and break-ups and alphabet soup of new types of organizations, management strategies and payment arrangements...In many respects, we're no better off than we were a decade ago." (3/15/06, Center for Studying Health System Change)

Florida Reports

Florida KidCare’s web site has these reports for download: Florida KidCare Statewide Enrollment Trend, Title XXI Enrollment and Major Program Changes.

Grading State Systems for Adults with Serious Mental Illness
A National Alliance on Mental Illness report grades each state's public mental health system for adults with serious mental illness, and assigns the nation an overall grade of D. The report grades states on 39 criteria in the areas of infrastructure, information access, services and recovery based on a survey of state mental health agencies last October and November.

Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIPS

Updated Fact Sheet on Medicaid's Role for Dual Eligibles

Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured has updated a fact sheet on Medicaid's role in providing care to dual eligibles, low-income Medicare beneficiaries, and the transitioning of their prescription drug coverage from Medicaid to the new Medicare drug benefit.

Medicaid Provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief summarizing the Medicaid policy changes of the recently signed budget reconciliation law and discussing the potential impact for states and beneficiaries.

Medicaid Spending and Enrollment

Updated data on Medicaid spending and enrollment from Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured based on analysis of CMS data for FY2002 are now available by state and region. Total payments for all enrollment groups - children, adults, elderly, and individuals with disabilities - and payments per enrollee have been updated.

The Transition of Dual Eligibles to Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Coverage: State Actions During Implementation
This Kaiser Family Foundation publication is a survey of Medicaid officials assesses states' early experience in the transition of low-income seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare (dual eligibles) to the Medicare Part D drug benefit. The survey covers the types of problems observed by states during the transition of dual eligibles, state actions to correct problems and ensure temporary coverage, and specific data on costs incurred by states from these temporary programs.

Can States Stretch the Medicaid Dollar without Passing the Buck? Lessons from Utah

With the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, states have gained increased flexibility over benefits and cost sharing for certain currently eligible Medicaid populations without having to obtain a waiver of Medicaid rules. New findings in the March/April edition of the journal Health Affairsprovide insights into the implications of limited benefits for the low-income population. (3/7/06, Kaiser Family Foundation)

Turning Medicaid Beneficiaries into Purchasers of Health Care: Critical Success Factors for Medicaid Consumer-Directed Health Purchasing This State Coverage Initiative Issue Brief finds state policymakers interested in applying the concepts of consumer-directed care to the Medicaid program. Various models are emerging. These reforms fundamentally would alter the role of the state, the state’s expectations of Medicaid beneficiaries, and the behavior of participants. Consumer-directed health purchasing programs would create new opportunities and risks for Medicaid beneficiaries.

Families USA Report on Medicaid Part D

This latest report found that the vast majority of new Medicare Part D beneficiaries already had prescription drug coverage before the program started earlier this year and, in an effort to downplay this situation, the Administration has significantly lowered its own enrollment projections. You can read the full report or a press release announcing the report.

Taking a Checkup on the Nation's Health Care Tax Policy: A Prognosis

statement before the US Senate Committee on Finance summarizes the latest data on who has health insurance and who doesn't, outlines the various tax subsidies that exist for health insurance, examines how those subsidies affect the market for health insurance and employment, and briefly comments on some reform options. (3/8/06, Urban Institute)

Selected Findings on Seniors' Views of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit

This poll finds that 45% of seniors say they have enrolled or plan to enroll in a drug plan, 29% say they do not intend to enroll in a drug plan and another 23% say they are uncertain. The majority of those who do not plan to enroll say they have another program or plan that helps pay for their prescriptions.Though more seniors are enrolling in a drug plan each month, the poll also shows that seniors have become less enthusiastic about the new Medicare drug benefit over the past six months. Seniors are now almost twice as likely to say they view the benefit unfavorably (45%) as favorably (23%). That finding reflects a shift since August, when seniors’ positive views peaked and they were as likely to view the benefit favorably (32%) as unfavorably (32%). (2/17/2006, Kaiser Family Foundation)

New State-By-State Data on Medicaid and SCHIP's Success in Reducing the Coverage Gap for Children

Georgetown University Health Policy Institute Center for Children and Families reports the surprisingly positive trends in coverage for children, largely due to Medicaid (and to a lesser extent, its smaller companion program, SCHIP), that provide affordable health insurance coverage to children in low-income families. However, there is significant variation across the states. Tables Methodology

A special report on Medicaid, by the Pew Center on the States, seeks to analyze the real-world experiences of states, highlight examples of what works and what doesn't, and inform a crucial policy debate that will affect the lives of millions of Americans. Federal policy has encouraged enrollment of Medicare beneficiaries in health plans, the majority of which are for-profit plans.

In Quality of care in for-profit and not-for-profit health plans enrolling Medicare beneficiaries, researchers from Harvard School of Public Health and Harvard Medical School report that not-for-profit health plans provided significantly higher quality of care to enrollees than for-profit plans on four important clinical services; breast cancer screening, diabetic eye examination, beta-blocker medication after heart attack and follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness.

Mathematica gives good marks in its report to Congress on the State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIPs) that offer health care coverage to children in families with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level and beyond. In almost all areas examined – outreach, enrollment and access to services – the programs are succeeding.

Most studies of health coverage expansion policies focus on their potential national impact. Variations in the Impact of Health Coverage Expansion Proposals across States finds that federal strategies have greatly varied effects on different states with regard to economic characteristics, health care markets, and numbers of uninsured.

Two new reports provide the latest data on how much Medicaid spending is used to cover mandatory versus optional populations and services. Medicaid: An Overview of Spending on "Mandatory" vs. "Optional" Populations and Services, offers a brief summary of the data and a discussion. report, Medicaid Enrollment and Spending by "Mandatory" and "Optional" Eligibility and Benefit Categories” offers a more detailed examination.

Financing for the nation’s health care safety net is fragmented, and providers must knit together resources from many different funding sources to cover the costs of providing a broad range of services. Stresses to the Safety Net: The Public Hospital Perspective describes those sources of revenue, documenting that nearly 40 percent of all safety net revenues come from Medicaid.

Over the past few years, a number of states have implemented new or increased out-of-pocket costs for beneficiaries in their Medicaid, SCHIP, or other public programs. Increasing Premiums and Cost Sharing in Medicaid and SCHIP: Recent State Experiences reviews the key findings from this activity, including the impact on enrollment in public coverage programs, on providers, and on access to care.

In January 2006, Medicare will begin providing coverage for outpatient prescription drugs, and many low-income beneficiaries will have to meet both an income and asset test to receive assistance. Low-Income Subsidies for the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: The Impact of the Asset Test estimates that in 2006, 2.37 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries will not qualify for subsidized coverage because they will fail the asset test. The report also examines how the low-income asset test works and the characteristics of people likely to be excluded.

Federal Budget/Health Care

Administration’s Fiscal Year 2007 Budget is Likely still to Leave SCHIP Coverage for Low-Income Children in Jeopardy finds that the Administration’s budget proposal will fall short of fully funding states’ needs for SCHIP funding in 2007 — and could lead more than 200,000 children to go without SCHIP coverage next year.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities recent Budget Analysis reports:

Program Cuts in the President’s Budget: Cuts Grow Deeper Over Time and Will Hit States Hard

The President's budget proposes substantial cuts in funding for domestic discretionary programs over the next five years. The budget specifies the funding level for each program in 2007, but the levels for specific programs for years after 2007 — the years in which the overall level of reductions in domestic discretionary programs would grow substantially — are hard to discern from the budget documents the Administration released publicly. This analysis uses Administration materials not widely distributed — including a key Office of Management and Budget (OMB) computer run that apparently was released inadvertently — to show the multi-year impact of the proposed cuts on a number of important domestic discretionary programs. Summary or Full Report with program cuts by state.

The Skewed Benefits of Tax Cuts 2007-2016: If the Tax Cuts Are Extended, Millionaires Will Receive More than $600 Billion over the Next Decade

Administration Defense of Health Savings Accounts Rests on Misleading Use of Statistics

The Cost and Coverage Impact of the President’s Health Insurance Budget Proposals finds that the Administration's proposals to expand tax breaks for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) would cause a net increase in the number of uninsured Americans.

Analysis of Medicaid Provisions in the Bush Administration 2007 Budget explains how most of the provisions in the budget, which include both legislative proposals and regulatory changes that the Administration is planning to make without legislative action, will shift Medicaid costs to the state. These funding cuts are on top of the significant federal Medicaid cuts enacted as part of the budget reconciliation bill signed into law.

The Administration’s Medicaid Proposals Would Shift Federal Costs to States finds that more than four-fifths of the Medicaid savings proposals in the Administration’s new budget would reduce federal Medicaid expenditures by shifting costs directly to the states. This likely would lead some states to scale back their Medicaid programs significantly by restricting eligibility and reducing coverage.

New Congressional Budget Office Estimates Indicate Millions of Low-Income Beneficiaries Would Be Harmed by Medicaid Provisions in Budget Bill

Health Insurance, Health Costs, Health Care Reform, Budget

Dimensions of the Local Health Care Environment and Use of Care by Uninsured Children in Rural and Urban Areas Despite concerted policy efforts, a sizeable percentage of children lack health insurance coverage. This article examines the impact of the health care safety net and health care market structure on the use of health care by uninsured children [and concludes that U]ninsured children had low levels of utilization over a range of different health care provider types and settings. (3/06, Pediatrics)

Health and Well-Being of Children: A Portrait of States and the Nation 2005

The National Survey of Children's Health, conducted (by the National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC) for the first time in 2003, addresses multiple state and national aspects of child health as well as aspects of the family and the neighborhood that can affect children's health.

Health Care Reform: 2006 Perspectives
The Commonwealth Fund-supported research provides perspective on approaches to addressing the issues of health care costs, quality and coverage, and details promising innovations to help the U.S. move toward a truly high-performance health care system.

State of the States: Finding Their Own Way on Health Coverage, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation program that works with states to expand health insurance coverage, today issued its latest annual "State of the States" report, summarizing strategies states are implementing or considering to expand health coverage.

Rising Out-of-Pocket Spending for Medical Care: A Growing Strain on Family Budgets

Since the late 1990s, accelerated growth in health care spending has translated into increased burdens on family budgets. In 2001–02, an average of 13 million families per year had direct out-of-pocket (OOP) costs equal to or exceeding 10 percent of family income. When premium costs are added into the equation, even more families are devoting a substantial share of resources to health care expenses. From the Commonwealth Fund.

Health Coverage for Aging Baby Boomers

Rising out-of-pocket health care costs and sluggish wage growth threatens workers' ability to save for retirement. This is particularly true for adults ages 50 to 64, or "baby boomers," whose per capita health care expenditures are more than twice those of younger adults. This January 2006 published analysis of The Commonwealth Fund Survey of Older Adults found: older adults have high rates of chronic health conditions; many have unstable insurance coverage; those who have low income, individual coverage, or no insurance spend a substantial share of their income on coverage and health care and have reduced access to care.

A recent Urban Institute report, Lowering Financial Burdens and Increasing Health Insurance Coverage for Those with High Medical Costs, reviews evidence that the health care system is doing a poor job of ensuring care for those who most need it and offers options for subsidizing health care coverage for high-cost, high-risk populations.

Young adults are one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. population without health insurance. They often lose coverage under their parents' policies at age 19 or when they graduate from high school or college. The updated Rite of Passage: Why Young Adults Become Uninsured and How New Policies Can Help suggests several policy changes that could extend coverage to uninsured young adults.

Health Equity Issues

Social Determinants of Health and Nursing: A Summary of the Issues
It is well-established that poorer people have substantially shorter life expectancies and This Canadian civil service study compared the health status of individuals over time with their position in a well-defined job hierarchy. Those lower in the hierarchy experienced three times the risk of death from heart disease, stroke, cancer, gastrointestinal disease, accident and suicide compared with those at the top of the hierarchy.

Stretching the Safety Net to Serve Undocumented Immigrants
A small but increasing proportion of immigrants to the United States is undocumented. This Health System Change Issue Brief found that because most undocumented immigrants lack health insurance, they primarily rely on safety net providers for care. Communities with more developed safety nets and historically large numbers of immigrants appear more adept at caring for both legal and undocumented immigrants.

The 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and 2005 National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR) are now available on AHRQ's Web Site. The 2005 NHQR is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. The 2005 NHDR tracks disparities in both quality of and access to health care in the United States for both the general population and for congressionally designated priority populations.

Few Hospitals Use Patients' Race, Ethnicity and Language Data to Improve Quality of Care
Health care stakeholders urge all U.S. hospitals to use patient data to improve the quality and consistency of care their patients receive. The study was conducted by the National Public Health and Hospital Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Disparities in Health Analyzed

A group of Pitt researchers and directors traveled to Washington last week to take part in a conference on racial and ethnic disparities in health and healthcare. "This conference represents Pitt coming to the nation's capital to create a partnership with the federal government on an effort we launched in 2001," said Stephen Thomas, director of Pitt's Center for Minority Health. The summit had been held in Pittsburgh for the past five years, where it was only able to hold 300 participants. This year, more than 2,000 clinicians, physician researchers, public health professionals and practitioners attended.

Other Health Issues

None listed this week.

Return to Top

STATE HEALTH EVENTS AND NOTICES

April 3, 2006

CHAIN Days 2006 in Tallahassee

April 4 - 5, 2006

Don't miss this longstanding event for Florida health care advocates, with Press Conference on April 5. For more information and registration form, click here. During this year's legislative session we must inundate the legislature with our concerns and stand as a united front to enforce our message that people know what they want and need! Legislative Priorities include: Medicaid Reform, Medicare Part D, Housing Trust Fund, Dream Act and In-state Tuition, and KidCare. Come join us! as consumers, providers and advocates of health care and strong and healthy families join their voices in a powerful chorus.

100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future

Members of the Florida House of Representatives are in the process of developing a bold vision for the future of Florida. This vision will be outlined in a book entitled “100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future.” These 100 Innovative Ideas will come from you, the people of Florida, through idearaisers with lawmakers or by logging on. The fundamental principles for the book are that ideas must 1) be relevant to day-to-day life 2) focus on the future 3) do not expand the role of government.

NORTH FLORIDA

Walk for the Minds of America
Tuesday, April 4 in Tallahassee

NAMI Florida is holding this event to raise awareness about mental illness and to raise funds for NAMI. For more information, call 850/671-4445 or 877/626-4352.

CENTRAL FLORIDA

Advocacy Jump Start 2006-2007: Conquer Your Fears & Become An Advocate
April 6, 2006, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm Rollins College, Winter Park

The Public Policy Director of the Minnesota Council on Nonprofits, and noted author on nonprofit advocacy, will host a full day of mini-sessions designed to conquer advocacy fears and introduce you to the public policy process. At lunch, Walt Disney World’s V. P. of Government Relations will discuss who currently holds power, from both a conservative and liberal viewpoint, and the best way to convince these players that your issue is worthy of support. Philanthropy Center Members: $100 workshop, $25 lunch; Non-members $200 workshop, $50 lunch. Board members may attend any or all sessions for free, when accompanied by a staff member. For more information click here

SOUTHEAST FLORIDA

Citizens' Health Care Working Group Palm Beach Community Meeting

April 11 5:00-8:30 pm

Registration Deadline April 7

Palm Beach Gardens Doubletree Hotel

(PGA Blvd. and I-95)

The Congressionally appointed Citizens' Health Care Working Group has been charged with listening to and learning from the American public at large about concerns with the nation’s health system. They are holding community meetings to listen to communities about their local concerns, as well as to solicit recommendations to help shape national health policy. Recommendations will be considered by Congress and the White House. Hosted by Human Resource Association of Palm Beach County, this program is approved for 2.5 credit hours toward PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification. Includes buffet dinner. Cost: member $35; guest $45. Register for the Palm Beach meeting. For more information click here.

Symbolic Community Walk for Brain Disorders
Sunday, April 9, 2006 8:30 am, Dreher Park in WPB

Walk to end stigma; promote healthy minds & healthy families; provide growth of programs for children, adolescents and adults with brain disorders as well as their caregivers; and educate and unify the community to foster awareness and understanding. For registration or more information: debbyp2@bellsouth.net

Exhibitors Needed for Hip Hop 4 Health Fairs in Miami-Dade

Saturday, April 29th noon to 3 PM, Homestead area location

Saturday, May 20th noon to 3 PM, Health Fair at a central location within Miami-Dade County

Hip Hop 4 Health is an outreach effort to help middle school kids get health screenings and information to lead healthier lives. Four health fairs also featuring entertainment will target students, their families and the surrounding communities in underserved areas of Miami-Dade County. Social service and healthcare agencies are invited to participate in these fairs at no cost. Contact Hilda Mitrani at hildamitrani@comcast.net or 305/992-3475.

Conference on Intervention

October 2-4 The Breakers Palm Beach Hotel

Click here for more information on this and four other events scheduled for 2006.

The Alliance for Human Services 4th Annual Institute hosts its 4th Annual Institute
October 27 Miami Beach Convention Center

Over 400 individuals (business leaders, social service providers, not-for-profit agencies, faith-based organizations, human service consumers) will gather to discuss and receive valuable information and innovative solutions on social service issues. The Alliance is dedicated to improving quality of life for Miami-Dade County residents through partnerships, coordination of resources, and community involvement. For more information, call 305/646-7274 or write ggrey@alliance4hs.org.

STATEWIDE

EVENTS

Children's Week in Tallahassee
March 31-April 8, 2006
The 11th Annual Children's Week will feature many activities for children, parents and advocates in Tallahassee. For more information, click here or write Jason@childrensweek.org. Community-based activities will also take place from March 4 through April 8, from Pensacola to Key West. For information about events taking place in your community, click here.

Cover the Uninsured Week 2006 will take place May 1-7

Visit covertheuninsuredweek.org to see Florida events.

2006 National STD Prevention Conference:

Beyond the Hidden Epidemic: Evolution or Revolution?
May 8-11 Jacksonville Hyatt Regency

Pre-registration deadline is April 17
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other groups sponsor this planned interface of science, program, and policy. Click here for more information .

In Our Best Interest:

Governor's Conference on Women's Health

May 18-19 Orlando, Sheraton World

For more information on this year's state-mandated conference of the interagency Women's Health Strategy Committee, click here or write Shara_Senior@doh.state.fl.us

18th Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS

May 25-28, 2006 Miami, The InterContinental
Sponsored by Boston College Graduate College of Social Work, this year's conference theme is "HIV/AIDS at Year 25: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work." Over 600 AIDS-care social workers are expected and over 120 conference sessions For more information, call 617/552-4038 or write lynchv@bc.edu. Click here for the conference brochure.

2006 National Conference on Latinos and AIDS
July 24-25 Wyndham Miami Beach Resort
Sponsored by Minority Healthcare Communications, Inc., this event will update the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of health providers who care for patients with HIV/AIDS. It is also designed for healthcare media, federal and state legislators, AIDS service organization officers, social workers, pharmacists, nurses, peer counselors, church leadership and corrections healthcare personnel. It will cover the epidemiology of HIV in the US, current guidelines and new clinical modalities for HIV management, current research encompassing drug abuse and its connection to the HIV epidemic, social and psychiatric concerns of the HIV-infected patient, policy initiatives, trends and political issues. CME credits available. Click here for more information.

2006 United States Conference on AIDS
Sept. 21-25 Hollywood Westin Diplomat
National Minority AIDS Council presents the largest AIDS-related gathering in the US, for over 4,000 case managers, physicians, public health workers and advocates to build national support networks, exchange the latest information and learn cutting-edge tools to address the challenges of HIV/AIDS.
Click here for registration and more information including scholarships access.

2006 Baker Act Training The University of South Florida Department of Mental Health Law and Policy presents a series of one-day workshops which will provide an overview for a wide variety of persons who need to be familiar with the Baker Act and its procedures. Workshops are scheduled through May, 2006 in select cities across the state. Click here to see a full listing of the events and register online.

AWARD NOMINATIONS INVITED

Sapphire Award to Recognize Community Health Excellence
Deadline for Nominations: May 5, 2006
The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida's Sapphire Award recognizes and promotes programs that have demonstrated impact in improving health-related outcomes of Florida's at-risk populations and communities. Three persons familiar with the organization must nominate the organization for the award. Up to three nonprofit winners will be selected annually to receive a financial award toward their defined community health objectives in an amount not to exceed $120,000 per organization. To be eligible, nominated 501 (c)(3)Florida housed and incorporated organizations must have a proven record of improving the health of their community through measurable. Nominations can be initiated by a health professional, volunteer, board member, or client; a representative of a partnering organization, such as another nonprofit organization or government agency; a representative of a foundation, corporation, or other funding institution; a program evaluator; or someone else who has direct knowledge of the organization's work and impact. Click here for information and application.

Return to Top

NATIONAL EVENTS AND NOTICES

April 3, 2006

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

AUDIO CONFERENCES

NOTICES

CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVES

CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

Third Annual Connecting Communities Learning Forum and Exhibition
April 9–11, 2006 -- Washington, DC

The eHealth Initiative and Foundation (eHI) announces this Learning Forum to bring together diverse stakeholders, including practicing clinicians, health plans, public sector leaders including federal and state policy-makers, quality improvement organizations, and emerging regional and community based health information organizations to identify strategies (clinical, financial, legal, organizational, and technical) to support better health and healthcare through health information exchange. Click here for details.

The Business of Aging: Transform Our Future National Conference

April 17-18 Erie, PA

This forum of national leaders and professionals will envision the future at the practical level. Interests of business, economic development, housing industry, health, and aging services will be integrated to prepare for the opportunities and challenges ahead. The interactive conference, hosted by Erie Center on Health & Aging, Inc., will highlight aging-in-place, universal design, home modification, community health, disabilities access, home teleHealth, technology, marketing and livable communities. Click here for more information.

Health as a Human Right: Health Education, Equality and Social Justice for All

Call for Abstract deadline: April 28

November 2-4 Boston, MA

Society for Public Health Education’s 57th Annual Meeting will examine the impact of reciprocal influences of health and human rights, including the impact public health programs and policies have on human rights and health disparities, the consequences human rights violations have on health, the importance of health in realizing human rights, and the ways in which health educators can ensure that human rights are integrated into public health strategies to eliminate disparities. Click here for more information.

Spring 2006 National Health, Wellness & Prevention Congress

May 8-10 San Francisco
The transformation to a consumer-centric health marketplace is creating both new opportunities and new responsibilities for wellness, fitness and prevention professionals. Click here for more information.

Physical Activity Program Successes: Impacting Communities, Effecting Change

May 9 Washington, DC

Through local public awareness campaigns, health promotion efforts, worksite, school site and community site programming, Americans are being reached where they live, work and play with programs and information on living healthier lives. The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity is hosting a national conference to share successful programs and highlight inventive best practices with an eye toward replication. Click here for more information.

The National Obesity Action Forum

June 5-6 Bethesda, MD

This meeting aims to address the problem of overweight and obesity in our nation, bringing together federal, state, and local public health officials; leaders of community organizations and advocacy groups; nutrition and physical fitness experts; health care providers; school and food industry reps; and interested consumers. Click here for more information.

National Leadership and Education Conference: For your patients ... For your community

June 28-29 Chicago

Cultural competency, mentoring, recruitment and retention, diversity among leadership and hospital trustees ... hospital and health system leaders grapple with these issues every day and ask how they can ensure that their health care workforce – particularly their health care managers – reflect the demographics of the communities they serve. The theme exemplifies the mission of hospitals throughout the country to provide culturally competent care for every patient who walks through their doors. Click here for more information.

AUDIO CONFERENCES

Audio Conferences and Webcasts

National Public Health Week Kick-off Event

Designing Healthy Communities: Raising Healthy Kids

April 4 10:00 am ET at kaisernetwork.org

Ask the Experts About Children's Health Care – kaisernetwork Webcast

April 4 2:00 pm ET at kaisernetwork.org

Telephonic Health Coaching: How It Can Improve Your Population Health Management Programs

April 5, 2006 -- 1:30-3:00 p.m. (EST)

Acts of Charity: Charity Care Strategies for Hospitals in a Changing Landscape
April 20 Based on a survey and other analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, this ACHI audio conference will convey up-to-date information about the fast-moving subject of charity care in the context of community benefit. Join it to learn about the current state of practice, and to hear and discuss recommended strategies.

Best Practices: Race, Ethnicity, and Primary Language Data Collection to Improve Quality of Care for Diverse Populations – Audio Conference

April 27 2:00-3:00 pm Central Time (rescheduled)

Dental Care Access and Prevention Strategies

May 18 ACHI audio conference

Operation Access: Providing Donated Outpatient Surgery to Uninsured People

June 15 ACHI audio conference

NOTICES

Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) Survey

This brief online survey about health literacy practices that clinicians use to communicate with low health literacy patients is part of a Commonwealth Fund- and Kaiser Permanente-supported project designed to improve health literacy, which affects 90 million adults in the United States. Click here to share your experiences and practices by completing the survey.

CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVES

National Donate Life Month: April

For materials: 301/443-7577 ask@hrsa.gov www.organdonor.gov/donatelife.htm

Alcohol Awareness Month: April

For materials: 800/789-2647 866/889-2647 TDD www.mentalhealth.org

National Alcohol Screening Day: April 6

For materials: 781/239-0071 info@mentalhealthscreening.org www.NationalAlcoholScreeningDay.org

National Infant Immunization Week: April 22 - 29

For materials: 800/232-4636 English/Spanish nipinfo@cdc.gov www.cdc.gov/nip/events/niiw/

National Public Health Week 2006

April 3-9, 2006. The American Public Health Association and hundreds of partner organizations will explore ways that Americans can build healthier communities and healthier kids. Communities across the country will consider how buildings, roads, sidewalks and neighborhood design are affecting the health of children. For more information, click here.

Second Annual Medical Fitness Week

April 24–30, 2006. The Medical Fitness Association sponsoring this international initiative to promote an increase in physical activity levels in all ages and to highlight the medical fitness difference. Medical fitness centers and communities are asked to offer programming to teach families skills to develop healthy lifestyle habits. All participating organizations are also asked to raise money through participation the Walking Challenge for local programs to fight childhood obesity. For details, click here.

National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and Walk4Life, Inc. also remind parents that children learn to get more physically active by example, with their new brochure, 101 Tips for Family Fitness Fun. For a free copy and information about bulk rate costs, email jlee-beverly@aahperd.org. To purchase copies, call 1/800-321-0789. Stock number is 304-10322. Spanish brochures, Consejos Divertidos para una Familia en Forma, are also available.

Cover the Uninsured Week 2006

May 1-7, 2006

The campaign's Web site has been updated with new information, resources and ways to get involved in the largest national campaign to help get America covered. Action steps include: Tell Congress, Spread the word by sending an email to your friends, Get involved in Cover the Uninsured Week activities. To download and order resources and materials including posters, stickers, fliers and more, for little or no cost, click here. For large or special orders, call 202/572-2928.