Back-to-School 2006 Results
Thanks to your good work, the seventh annual Back-to-School Campaign was a great success. The campaign aims to reach families during the back-to-school season with the message that low-cost and free health care coverage is available for their eligible, uninsured children. This year community organizations, corporations, national supporters, local businesses, faith groups, individuals and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grantees came together to promote low-cost and free health care coverage available through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Following are results from this year's campaign:
- The campaign launched with press conferences and enrollment events in eight target markets, including Baton Rouge, LA; Des Moines, IA; Helena, MT; Houston, TX; Las Vegas, NV; Milwaukee, WI; Phoenix, AZ; and Seattle, WA.
- More than 4,000 events and activities took place nationwide.
- Television ads encouraging families to call the national 1(877) KIDS-NOW hotline ran in key cities nationwide. See the Cover the Uninsured public service announcements: "Hard Choices" and "Cash Register."
- Calls to the national 1(877) KIDS-NOW hotline increased by nearly 250 percent nationwide, and by more than 830 percent in target markets.
- Based on anecdotal data collected from Covering Kids & Families coalitions, more than 425,000 Medicaid and SCHIP applications were distributed to families. Read more information about health coverage applications distribution.
- Millions of potentially eligible families received information about low-cost and free health care coverage through the Dear Abby and Annie's Mailbox syndicated columns and hundreds of newspaper, television, radio and online stories across the country, for a total of nearly 267 million media impressions. Read more about media coverage.
- Ten corporate partners helped the campaign spread the word about low-cost and free health coverage.
- More than 200 national organizations helped spread the word through their Web sites, newsletters and member communications. Read about National Supporters' involvement with Back-to-School.
- More than two million Back-to-School Campaign informational materials were distributed nationwide. Order free materials.
- New research was released, showing that the number of uninsured kids has declined as the number of enrollees in SCHIP increased. Read this year's research reports.
Get Involved!
Even though the 2006 Back-to-School Campaign has drawn to a close, you can continue to get involved! See Get Involved for some ideas about what you can do to help promote low-cost and free health care coverage for children. Also, you can still order FREE materials for distribution in your community.
Hotline
A total of 102,100 calls were made to the national 1(877) KIDS-NOW hotline inquiring about available health coverage during August and September, with calls during the Back-to-School Campaign period increasing more than 830 percent in target markets and nearly 250 percent nationwide.
Learn what you can do to help promote the national 1(877) KIDS-NOW hotline
Applications
More than 425,000 Medicaid and SCHIP applications were distributed to uninsured and likely eligible families nationwide during the 2006 Back-to-School Campaign. The following state examples illustrate the scope of the state-wide coalitions:
Florida
More than 200,000 applications were distributed by organizations in Florida, including the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, Broward County Health Department KidCare Outreach program, Florida Covering Kids & Families, and Hillsborough County Public Schools.
Iowa
The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) distributed more than 3,000 applications through Back-to-School events, and the hawk-i program (Iowa's SCHIP) sent tens of thousands of applications to all schools in Iowa.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Healthy Kids, working with 491 schools and eight school administrative units, sent materials to the more than 200,000 students statewide.
Wisconsin
Covering Kids & Families - Wisconsin and its coalition members distributed more than 30,000 materials at health fairs, back-to-school fairs and local schools. They also provided on-site application assistance to families at two major fairs.
Learn what you can do to help promote Medicaid and SCHIP enrollment in your area
Media Coverage
The Back-to-School Campaign received widespread media coverage nationally and in the campaign's eight target markets.
In addition to prominent coverage in the Dear Abby and Annie's Mailbox syndicated columns, the Back-to-School Campaign generated coverage in 582 television, 421 radio, 328 print and 15 online stories in English and Spanish media outlets.
Stories appeared in newspapers including the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, Philadelphia Inquirer, Des Moines Register, Austin American-Statesman, Dallas Morning News, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Arizona Daily Star, Arizona Republic, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Times, Denver Post, Billings Gazette, and the Baton Rouge Advocate. Additionally, the Associated Press, Reuters and UPI ran stories on their wire services. Broadcast coverage was extensive, with stories airing on CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX or Univision affiliates in many local markets.
Visit the Press Room for the latest news from the campaign.
National Supporters
More than 200 national organizations joined the Back-to-School Campaign and helped spread the word about low-cost and free health coverage through their Web sites, newsletters and member communications. The following is a sample of how some supporters participated in the campaign:
- The American Federation of Teachers distributed materials through classrooms, getting the word out to the families of their schoolchildren. Information about the campaign was included in the AFT publication American Teacher (circulation 1 million). Additionally, AFT hosted the Back-to-School Campaign at its annual meeting in Boston, where campaign representatives handed out Back-to-School information to AFT members.
- American Medical Association - Medical Student Section made covering the uninsured their top project for the next two years. AMA-MSS promoted the campaign by posting the Web button, distributing information through e-mails and posting information on the Back-to-School Campaign on its Web site. AMA-MSS members also planned and participated in events in their local communities.
- American Hospital Association (AHA) promoted the campaign to 24,000 members in two listservs to members and in its yearly four-page AHA News insert that highlights how hospitals help enroll children and families in low-cost and free health care coverage programs.
- The American College of Emergency Physicians promoted the campaign by posting a Web button and information about the campaign on its Web site and sending a press release announcing the Back-to-School Campaign.