Childrens Health: Lessons

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Childrens Health Lessons Learned from SCHIP
Debate
Independent Sector
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• Child Advocates Challenges
• Perception vs. Reality
• Communications Speaking with One Voice
• Communications Abolish Myth vs. Fact Sheets
• Communications Speak from Our Talking Points

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• Lawmakers on both sides know that a piece of
  legislation stands a much better chance of
  passage if its about kids.
• Dana Milbank
• Washington Post
• Sept. 26, 2007

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Millbank cites the following legislation
Kids Come First Act Prepare All Kids Act Early
Childhood Investment Act Play Every Day Act Safe
Babies Act Childrens Dental Health Improvement
Act Early Detection of Dyslexia in Children Act
These bills have not been passed nor signed into
law.
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Many Promises
President Bush (9/2/04) Americas children must
also have a healthy start in life. In a new
term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll
millions of poor children who are eligible but
not signed up for the governments health
insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of
attention, or information, to stand between these
children and the health care they need.
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114 Congressmen voted for one, but against the
other.

• Medicare Rx
• Cost 400 billion
• Crowd Out 71
• Entitlement program
• Changes in Medicare impact entire health system
• Covers all senior citizens, including
  billionaires

• SCHIP
• Cost 35 billion
• Crowd Out 34
• Block grant
• Changes amount to 0.7 of federal spending
• 99.95 of covered children are below 300 of
  poverty

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ADMINISTRATION VETOES
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(No Transcript)
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The First Focus Childrens Budget provides a
comprehensive look at childrens spending over
the last five years.
Core Elements Descriptions of 180 programs that
benefit childrenCurrent appropriation
levelsFunding levels from the past five fiscal
yearsProposed funding levels for the coming
fiscal yearThe change over time in funding as a
percentage of growth (both in nominal and
inflation adjusted terms)
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Children in the Budget
From 2004 to 2008, the share of the federal,
non-defense budget going to childrens programs
declined by nearly 10.
Spending on Children as a Share of All Federal
Non-Defense Spending
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Children in the Budget
From 2004 to 2008, while federal spending
increased dramatically, children were almost
entirely left out.
Increase in Federal Non-Defense Spending
Increase in Federal Spending on Children
Only 1 of the increase went to children and
childrens programs
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We are shortchanging our children.
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• Child Advocates Challenges
• Perception vs. Reality
• Communications Speaking with One Voice
• Communications Abolish Myth vs. Fact Sheets
• Communications Speak from Our Talking Points

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Senior Citizens

• Medicare
• Social Security
• Pensions
• Older Americans Act

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Children
Food Stamps
Childhood Obesity
Foster Care
WIC
Childrens Health
Tobacco Tax
Education
Child Care
Home Visiting
Juvenile Justice
Infant Mortality
Child Tax Credit
Teen Pregnancy
Head Start
Child Safety Seats
Substance Abuse
Bullying
Missing Exploited Children
Healthy Start
Child Abuse Neglect
Even Start
Adoption
Immunizations
No Child Left Behind
Pre-K
Maternal Child Health
Autism
Childhood Research
Child Development
Family Medical Leave
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• Child Advocates Challenges
• Perception vs. Reality
• Communications Speaking with One Voice
• Communications Abolish Myth vs. Fact Sheets
• Communications Speak from Our Talking Points

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Abolish Myth vs Fact Sheets

• MYTH The childrens health bill covers illegal
  immigrants.
• FACT The childrens health bill does not cover
  illegal immigrants. The childrens health bill
  specifically denies illegal immigrants health
  care. Sec. 214 specifically states that children
  cannot be covered if they are illegal immigrants.
  States would be specifically prohibited from
  granted coverage to illegal immigrants and would
  have to pay back any costs attributable to
  wrongly covering immigrants.
• What is allowed is coverage of legal immigrant
  children in the legislation because.blahblahbla
  h

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• Child Advocates Challenges
• Perception vs. Reality
• Communications Speaking with One Voice
• Communications Abolish Myth vs. Fact Sheets
• Communications Speak from Our Talking Points

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• Childrens Health Reinforce the Positive
• Passage by a veto proof majority in the Senate
• Passage by over 100-vote margin in the House
• Public strongly supports by over 80
• Elections indicate strong support for SCHIP
  (flip of president, 15 House seats and 2 Senate
  seats)
• SCHIP extension fully funds the program through
  mid-2009

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• Child Advocates Opportunities
• Public is Supportive and Concerned
• Legislative Opportunities
• SCHIP Reauthorization
• Block Detrimental Medicaid Regulations
• National Health Reform
• Incremental Reform

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• Luntz poll
• 66-17 margin voters will be less likely to
  support a politician that failed to support
  childrens health
• McInturff/Greenberg poll
• 70-22 margin voters support increasing
  funding for childrens programs by cutting
  spending growth in other govt programs
  (Republicans 73, Independents 70, Democrats
  68).

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Public Opinion Polling
LUNTZ POLL -- Thinking about the last ten years,
would you say that the lives of children in
America have gotten? Better 39 Worse
50 First generation to believe that children
will fare worse than themselves.
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(No Transcript)
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• Child Advocates Opportunities
• Public is Supportive and Concerned
• Legislative Opportunities
• SCHIP Reauthorization
• Block Detrimental Medicaid Regulations
• National Health Reform
• Incremental Reform

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The next President will be crucial for the
future of investments in children

• Child Nutrition Programs - 13 Billion
• SCHIP - 6 Billion
• Child Care and Development Block Grant - 2
  Billion
• Workforce Investment Act Youth Programs 900
  Million
• Child Tax Credit - 47 Billion
• Earned Income Tax Credit - 42 Billion

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• Childrens Health
• SCHIP Reauthorization
• Strike Detrimental Medicaid Regulations to
  Children
• National Health Reform Unique Role of Children
• Budget Deficits Threats to Medicaid and SCHIP
• Public Health Needs Immunizations, Childhood
  Obesity, and Dental

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• Things the Advocacy Community Must Do
• Share Knowledge Wider use of data
• Building Will Working across silos
• Creating a positive campaign
• Stronger and coordinated communications
• Taking Advantage of Opportunities Timing and
  using opportunities

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Trends in the Uninsured Rate of Low-Income
Children, 1997- 2006
Source Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School
of Public Health analysis of the National Health
Interview Survey for the Center for Children and
Families (March 1, 2008).
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Distribution of Uninsured Children, 2004
Not Eligible gt300 FPL
Not Eligible lt300 FPL
Not Eligible on the Basis of Immigration Status
1.7 Million Eligible for SCHIP
5.4 Million Uninsured Children are Eligible but
Unenrolled in SCHIP or Medicaid
3.7 Million Eligible for Medicaid
8 Million Uninsured Children
SOURCE Based on Dubay, Holahan and Cook
(2007). Data has been adjusted for the Medicaid
undercount.
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• Things the Advocacy Community Must Do
• Share Knowledge Wider use of data
• Building Will Working across silos
• Creating a positive campaign
• Stronger and coordinated communications
• Taking Advantage of Opportunities Timing and
  using opportunities

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Activation Point

• BUILD WILL
• Hope is a must despair is disempowering

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Activation Point

• BUILD WILL
• Hope is a must
• Instead of mourning a genocide, what if we could
  STOP one?

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• Childrens Health Reinforce the Positive
• Passage by a veto proof majority in the Senate
• Passage by over 100-vote margin in the House
• Public strongly supports by over 80
• Elections indicate strong support for SCHIP
  (flip of president, 15 House seats and 2 Senate
  seats)
• SCHIP extension fully funds the program through
  mid-2009

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• Things the Advocacy Community Must Do
• Share Knowledge Wider use of data
• Building Will Working across silos
• Creating a positive campaign
• Stronger and coordinated communications
• Taking Advantage of Opportunities Timing and
  using opportunities

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Activation Point

• TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITY
• Celebrate wins
• Create and be prepared for unexpected
  opportunities (opening the window of
  opportunity)

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Bruce Lesley First Focus brucel_at_firstfocus.net 202
-657-0670