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Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health Friday Notes

Posted over 9 years ago by Rachel VanDenBrink

August 15, 2014


In this issue
Advocacy Alert: CHIP Reauthorization and Medicaid Payment Increase
Expanded Medicaid Enrollment Tops 350,000
MDCH Joins Healthy Communities Program, Applications Due August 20
Advocacy Alert: CHIP Reauthorization and Medicaid Payment Increase

As members of Congress return to their home states and districts this month for a five-week Congressional recess, your voice is needed to urge our federal legislators to extend the Medicaid payment increase for two more years and CHIP for four more years.

More than 12 million children get the health care they need through the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but CHIP's success story is at risk if Congress does not act this year to extend funding. CHIP was created 17 years ago this month. CHIP has been vital to millions of children in working families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private health insurance. CHIP funding runs out on October 1, 2015 unless Congress acts. Millions of children could have their insurance coverage disrupted or lose access to affordable coverage altogether if Congress does not reauthorize funding for the program.

Pediatricians often provide care for a large portion of Medicaid patients in a community.

Unfortunately, Medicaid has historically paid well below Medicare rates for the same services. The Affordable Care Act increased Medicaid payment rates for primary care services to at least those paid by Medicare for calendar years 2013 and 2014 in order to improve access to care in the program. Absent action by Congress, this increased funding will end on January 1, 2015.

Please e-mail or call our federal legislators and urge them to extend two programs critical to child health: the Medicaid payment increase and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
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Expanded Medicaid Enrollment Tops 350,000

Total enrollment in Healthy Michigan, the state's expanded Medicaid eligibility program, has topped more than 355,000 people, the Department of Community Health showed on Monday.

The latest milestone was reached less than one month after enrollments hit 320,000, which was the total expected for all of 2014.

If enrollments continue at the current pace, the state could hit the estimated total number of people in need of such coverage - 470,000 - in a little more than another two months.

The largest number of enrollees comes from Wayne County at 98,414 so far and 54,896 of those specifically from Detroit.

Macomb County has the next largest total of enrollees at 26,334, following by 25,760 from Oakland County, 23,644 from Genesee County and 17,256 from Kent County.

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MDCH Joins Healthy Communities Program, Applications Due August 20

The Michigan Department of Community Health is partnering with the statewide Building Healthy Communities program, a private-public initiative designed to fight obesity and improve childhood wellness through school-based programming.

The program aligns with the Michigan Health and Wellness 4 x 4 Plan and works with schools and their communities to teach kids healthy habits and address childhood obesity.

MDCH now joins Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the Michigan Fitness Foundation, University of Michigan, United Dairy Industry of Michigan and Wayne State University in the program.

To expand the opportunity to more schools and children, a second application period has been opened for schools to apply for the Building Healthy Communities program for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year. All public, charter and nonprofit private schools in Michigan are encouraged to apply for the program by August 20, 2014.

Schools interested in applying for the Building Healthy Communities program can send email or call (517) 325-4595 for additional information. Schools receiving the program will be announced in September.

For more information on the Building Healthy Communities program and application process, visit www.bcbsm.com/buildhealth. For more information about the Michigan Health and Wellness 4 x 4 Plan, visit www.michigan.gov/healthymichigan.

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Contributors to this Issue
American Academy of Pediatrics
Gongwer News Service
HealthDay
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Quick Links . . .

New Benefits for Breastfeeding Moms: Toolkit to Understand Coverage

As part of women's preventive services under the Affordable Care Act, new plans are required to cover breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling. This is a significant step forward in making breastfeeding more accessible and affordable for millions of women.

The National Women's Law Center has created a toolkit for women, advocates, community-based organizations and health care providers to provide information on the coverage of breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling in the health care law and offer tools to use if women encounter problems with this coverage. It includes detailed instructions on how to call insurance companies and how to file an appeal if the plan denies coverage. The toolkit includes draft appeal letters tailored to commonly encountered scenarios. Learn more here.
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Delta Dental Foundation Offers Grants

The Delta Dental Foundation, an affiliate of Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana has announced a call for applications for the 2014 Brighter Futures Community Grant Program. The Delta Dental Foundation provides financial support through its Brighter Futures Community Grant Program to various community organizations and programs that promote/provide oral health care for children and/or adults.

This year, the Delta Dental Foundation will be providing $100,000 in grants to support programs that primarily focus on adult oral health and $150,000 to support programs that specifically focus on children's oral health. Grants are limited to a maximum of $5,000 each. Click here for complete grant guidelines.

Apply online here. Applications are due September 15, 2014.
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Job Opening: Parent Consultant for CSHCS Family Center
The Family Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs has a job opening for a Parent Consultant. The Family Center is the parent-directed section of CSHCS; providing support to families statewide and serving as a voice for families who have children with special needs. All programs and services of the Family Center support family-centered, culturally competent, community-based, and coordinated care for families of children with special needs. Read the full job description here. Applications are due September 2, 2014.

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Michigan Alliance for Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of Youth Offers Sample Plans

Beginning this school year all K-12 schools are to adopt and implement a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan. The Michigan Alliance for Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death of the Young (MAP-SCDY) workgroup members created sample documents for written cardiac emergency plans for Michigan schools.

The MI HEARTSafe Schools website contains specific resources and links for developing a Cardiac Emergency Response Plan and Cardiac Emergency Response Drills.

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Next Michigan Health Endowment Fund Listening Tour Stop Announced
The Board of Directors of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund is conducting a listening tour to gain a better understanding of the health issues confronting Michigan residents, and to familiarize the public with the purpose of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund. The second session will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on September 4 in Marquette at Northern Michigan University. Four additional sessions will be scheduled in other regions of the state.

Register online for the September 4 session here.

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2014 Family Planning Update: Sept. 24-25
The 2014 Family Planning Update: Empowering Reproductive Health, will be held September 24-25 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Holland. This event brings together top policymakers and Family Planning forerunners from across the nation to provide quality training to the Michigan Family Planning Program. This two day, action packed event will provide you with all of the tools, resources, and best practices you need to accomplish your goals within your local community. This year, located near downtown Holland, the 2014 Family Planning Update offers a talented speaker lineup, and includes such names as Anita Nelson, Dr. Peter Gulick,, Dr. Brent Davidson, NFPHRA, Guttmacher and others. Online registration available here.


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