Helping Parents Plan for Seasonal Illness and Allergies

Helping Parents Plan for Seasonal Illness and Allergies  Fighting the Flu Cooler days for kids mean coats and scarves, mittens and hats, hot chocolate, and maybe even snow! But along with the joys of winter, we know families are also dealing with cold and flu season – and that keeping kids healthy is top of mind during this time of year. It’s a great opportunity to remind families about the availability of Medicaid and CHIP, especially that these programs provide free or low-cost health care for kids, and cover immunizations, prescriptions, doctor visits and more! According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the single best way to protect children from the flu is to get them vaccinated each year. We encourage partnering with community health organizations, providers, or county health departments to host an enrollment drive where flu shots are available. The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign also has cold and flu-themed palmcards and posters available in English and Spanish to share with families. Those looking to support the Campaign’s efforts can find resources, such as informative webinars and fact sheets dedicated to outreach and enrollment strategies on our website, as well. Our webinar, Outreach and Enrollment When Families are Seeking Health Services and fact sheet, 5 Ways Primary Care Associations and Health Centers Can Help Fact Sheet are just a few examples of how we’re dedicated to help close the gap between children and affordable health care coverage. To connect with your local health department, you can also visit the National Association of County and City Health Officials. Battling Spring Blooms After parents tackle the cold and flu season, allergy and asthma season will be right around the corner! The Campaign website, InsureKidsNow.gov, has a number of resources and tools to encourage parents to enroll their children in Medicaid and CHIP so that kids can get the allergy and asthma treatment they need. The “Bubbles” palmcards and posters are available in English and Spanish in the Campaign’s Outreach Tool Library. NEW Grantee Renewal Palmcards Medicaid and CHIP enrollment is available year-round, but parents have to enroll children annually, even if their personal information has not changed. To remind parents of their unique renewal deadline, the Campaign created the “Kids on Bench,” “Teens Smiling,” “High Schoolers,” and “Superhero” palmcards to share with families during the initial enrollment process and serve as a reminder. Organizations can download these resources and fill in their contact information, as well as the family’s renewal date. We want to hear your success story! We'd like to know what would be helpful to your organization as you work to connect kids to coverage! And if you’re using our Campaign cold and flu or allergy and asthma materials, let us know! Share details with the Campaign via email at ConnectingKids@cms.hhs.gov or Twitter using #Enroll365, and #KidsEnroll in tweets.  Stay Connected with the Campaign  Share our materials widely. We have an ever-growing Outreach Tool Library featuring resources to use in outreach and enrollment efforts, including materials in other languages. Contact us to get more involved with the Campaign at ConnectingKids@cms.hhs.gov Follow the Campaign on Twitter. Don’t forget to re-tweet or share our messages with your network or use our #Enroll365 and/or #KidsEnroll hashtags in your posts.  The Connecting Kids to Coverage National Campaign Notes eNewsletter is distributed throughout the year and provides updates on Campaign activities. If a friend or colleague forwarded this email to you, sign up to receive this eNewsletter directly to your inbox.

The Centers for Medicate & Medicaid Services (CMS) To contact CMS, please visit our contact us page.