Agencies ordered to spread the word on Medicaid

President Clinton this week ordered federal agencies to band together to sign more children up for government health insurance programs.

Agencies must reach out to eligible families, informing them how to sign up for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, Clinton said during a health conference Monday at Tennessee's Vanderbilt University.

"We have to figure out how to do a better job of turning laws into reality," Clinton said. "The biggest challenge we've got right now is to fulfill the promise we made to the American people when we persuaded the Congress to put in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 sufficient funds--the biggest increase in Medicare funding since 1965--to provide health insurance to at least 5 million more children. There are 10 million or more children in America without any health insurance."

On Monday Clinton signed an executive memorandum instructing eight agencies to take on more than 150 initiatives to spread the word on Medicaid. The eight agencies--Health and Human Services, Treasury, Social Security, Agriculture, Education, Interior, Labor and Housing and Urban Development--designed the initiatives themselves through an interagency working group the President created in February.

The agencies' action plan calls for Cabinet secretaries to send letters to 350,000 federal employees explaining the health insurance outreach program and how to encourage families to sign up uninsured children. This summer heads of agencies will send out letters or electronic mail to employees who deal with the public.

Agencies will also distribute information at Social Security and IRS offices, community health centers, public housing projects and Indian schools. Feds will spread the word to state government agencies as well.

Clinton also stressed the importance of asking public servants who work with the poor--teachers, for example--to explain to people one-on-one how to enroll children in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Personal help is particularly important for people who speak English as a second language, he said.

"If there is not some affirmative attempt to reach them through someone they know and trust, their children will not get on this program--I don't care how many flyers we put out or [public service announcements] we do or anything else," Clinton said.

In addition to the interagency cooperation, Vice President Al Gore announced that more than 80 non-government organizations will help agencies inform the public about options for children's health insurance and about changes to Medicare. Starting in July, Medicare will cover tests for diabetes and osteoporosis. The AFL-CIO, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the National Rural Health Association are among the groups who will help publicize those options.

This summer's efforts presage another massive Medicare outreach program scheduled for this fall. At that time, the Health Care Financing Administration will send out literature to the 37 million Americans who receive Medicare, explaining changes to the insurance program created under the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. More choices will be available to beneficiaries under the changes.