Cover the Uninsured Highlights

Your help made a difference! Thank you for making our tenth annual Back-to-School Campaign a success and helping to get America’s kids covered! Thanks to you, more eligible uninsured kids have the coverage they need. More than 90 percent of this year’s events offered on-site enrollment in low-cost or free health coverage programs.

The 10th annual Back-to-School Campaign is here! As local organizations and activists across the country are engaged in the health reform debate, we know that many of you are continuing to enroll eligible uninsured children in low-cost and free health care coverage programs--and we want to help. Plan an event and order free materials today!

With Congress and the Obama administration discussing how to reform the nation’s health care system, a new report looks at what has happened since the last significant reform effort ended in 1994 without any comprehensive congressional action. The analysis from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) documents the deteriorating scenario unfolding since then.

"This IOM report shows that the evidence on the consequences of being uninsured is stronger than ever. People without insurance do not get the care they need, and too many people live sicker and die sooner as a result," says RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A.

RWJF President Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., says the signing of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) "extends a vital safety net for millions of hard-working parents who either aren't offered insurance for their kids through their jobs, or can't afford the coverage that is offered."

Making health care more affordable is a top concern of small business owners, who say that health care costs are the primary issue confronting their businesses.

The seventh annual Cover the Uninsured Week will take place March 22-28, 2009, in cities and towns across the country. 

A report on children’s health shows that having health insurance makes an enormous difference in whether kids receive the care they need, especially if they are chronically ill.

The number and proportion of Americans reporting going without or delaying needed medical care increased sharply between 2003 and 2007.