Millionth Call Is Made to Insure Kids Now! Health Insurance Hotline

The millionth call to the 1-877-KIDS-NOW number for information on children’s health insurance was made in August, officials from HRSA’s Office of Field Operations have confirmed.  The HRSA-supported hotline began in February 1999 as a way to connect families of uninsured children with their State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and Medicaid.

State SCHIP programs have different eligibility requirements.  In most states, uninsured children 18 years old and younger whose families earn up to $34,100 a year (for a family of four) are eligible.  In some states, parents also can receive health insurance through SCHIP.

In August, nearly 90,000 calls poured in to the hotline after the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation launched a back-to-school enrollment drive at an event in Washington, D.C., where HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson encouraged sign-up efforts.

HRSA maintains the toll-free line as well as the Insure Kids Now! Web site, www.insurekidsnow.gov, which has had more than half a million visitors since March 2001.  The site links directly to each state’s SCHIP or Medicaid Web site where, in some cases, users can download applications and get information in Spanish and English.

Today about 8.5 million children nationally (11.7 percent of all children) have no health insurance coverage, according to federal sources.  Approximately 4.6 million children were covered under SCHIP during fiscal year 2001 -- a 38 percent increase from the previous year.

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