(Circulation. 2001;103:e9007.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Cardiovascular News
Although he called his Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) a success because it has brought 3.3 million youngsters into the program since it began 3 years ago, President Clinton in the waning days of his administration announced new rules that he said he hoped would make the program accessible to at least 1.7 million more—the goal he has set for the program.
The new rules would allow states to use school lunch enrollment data to contact families who may be eligible for the program, which targets children whose parents make too much to qualify them for Medicare but still cannot afford to provide health insurance to their families. Under the new plan, parents can enroll their children in CHIP or Medicaid at the same time that they fill out applications at day care centers, in school nurse offices, or other convenient locations. Finally, the President said employers will be able to insure the children of low-wage workers and have most of the cost picked up by CHIP.
In a January 6 radio broadcast, President Clinton urged parents of children who are now uninsured to call 1-877-KIDS NOW to receive more information about the insurance program.
In that same week, the new director of the National Center
for Minority Health and Health Disparities, John Ruffin, PhD, was sworn
in; he is a symbol of the Clinton Administration’s attempt to
attack the disparities in health status and healthcare delivery among
racial and ethnic groups. "While the diversity of the American
population is