Cover the Uninsured Week is an annual effort to highlight the need to cover America's uninsured. Forty million Americans are uninsured with more than 9 million of those being children. More than eight out of ten are in working families and include our friends, neighbors and colleagues. During Cover the Uninsured Week help inspire hope and create opportunites for a better tomorrow by contributing to our health fund or by volunteering. Give, advocate, or volunteer - we all have something special to contribute to making our community stronger.
For more information about Cover the Uninsured Week, click here. Click here for a guide to finding health coverage in California.
Healthy Kids Mendocino
Supporting local health programs is important to keeping our communities healthy places to live and work. In 2009 alone, Healthy Kids Mendocino supported the enrollment and retention of over 1,200 children into a health insurance program. However, at the same time, demand of their services also increased by 34% due to the national recession. Before the economic downturn, the number of children without medical insurance had dropped from 16% in 2005, to 7% in 2007. New research shows Healthy Kids programs directly connect chidlren with a regular source of healthcare. It also shows 20% of chidlren enrolled in health insurance coverage are more likely to see a primary care physician and 36% are more likely to have a regular source of dental care. There is also a higher level of academic performance in reading and math when a child regularly sees a doctor. Support children's health today by clicking here!
In collaboration with Kaiser Permanente, Neighbors in Health provides a day of free health care for the uninsured and underinsured in our community. With support from Healthy Kids, assistance in finding health insurance and a medical home is also offered. Children from ages 0-17 years receive medical care including immunizations, wellness checks and dental exams. This year, Neighbors in Health will be held on Sunday, August 1 at Kaiser Permanente located at 3925 Old Redwood Highway, Santa Rosa. Volunteer today to help at Neighbors in Health!
Healthy Kids Sonoma County strives to provide health insurance coverage to all low-income children living in Sonoma County. Several Certified Application Assistants (CAAs) perform outreach, locate children and assist their families with applications to health insurance programs. Most of the uninsured identified by the CAAs actually qualify for coverage through a State program such as Medi-Cal or Healthy Families. For children from low-income families who do not qualify for State programs, Healthy Kids offers subsidized, private insurance at premium rates the families can afford.
Since the launch of Healthy Kids Sonoma County in 2005, over 34,000 children and pregnant women have received help applying for and renewing health insurance coverage (about 800 applicants per month!).
During Cover the Uninsured Week 2010, help support uninsured children in Sonoma County by making a contribution to Healthy Kids now!
