Making the Most of the New CHIP
<p>When Congress reauthorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) earlier this year, it not only ensured the continuation of one of the nation’s most successful efforts to bring health coverage to the uninsured, but also expanded the program to reach even more Americans. As a result, CHIP will cover an estimated 4.1 million uninsured low-income children in addition to the 7 million covered in 2008.</p>
<p>In a new <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2009/sep/implementation-choices-childrens-health-insurance-program">Commonwealth Fund report,</a> child health care experts led by Lisa Simpson, director of the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, discuss CHIP’s potential to transform health care for the children it serves. Simpson notes that much of this potential lies in the details of the program’s implementation. Informed by a variety of child health care experts and stakeholders, the authors offer recommendations for improving CHIP outreach and enrollment as well as the quality of care enrollees receive. Among them are: giving funding priority to states that will adopt or maintain key enrollment simplifications, ensuring that quality measures focus on children’s priority health care needs, and building quality measurement and improvement capabilities into electronic health information systems. </p>
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<strong>CHIP Implementation Webinar: Sept. 15</strong> </p>
<p>Join a webinar on Tuesday, September 15, at 2 p.m. E.D.T., to listen to report coauthors Lisa Simpson and Jocelyn Guyer, coexecutive director of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, along with Catherine Hess, senior program director at the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), discuss key features of the new legislation and ways to optimize its implementation. The webinar is cosponsored by NASHP, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, and the National Initiative for Children's Healthcare Quality. </p>
<p>To join this free, 60-minute webinar, go to: <a href="https://commonwealthfundevents.webex.com/mw0306l/mywebex/default.do?sit… />/mw0306l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=commonwealthfundevents&service=6</a>. <br /></p>