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Child Health Information Project
Children's Defense Fund
May 5, 2000
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In this issue:

* NEW GAO REPORT RELEASED ON MEDICAID AND SCHIP OUTREACH

* NEW HOWARD UNIVERSITY STUDY ON RISING ASTHMA INCIDENCES IN INNER CITIES

* AAP RELEASES NEW GUIDELINES FOR DIAGNOSIS OF ADHD

* GET YOUR INAUGURAL EDITION OF "SIGN THEM UP! A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS"
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NEW GAO REPORT RELEASED ON MEDICAID AND SCHIP OUTREACH

A new report from the United States General Accounting Office (GAO) comparing outreach strategies for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has been released. The report, entitled "Medicaid and SCHIP: Comparisons of Outreach, Enrollment Practices, and Benefits," finds that outreach strategies for Medicaid and SCHIP are similar but they differ in the way they enroll eligible children and in the scope of the benefits they offer. The results were based on information from ten states.

The report finds that "...half the states surveyed required more documentation for Medicaid than for SCHIP, and states often required more documentation for Medicaid than was federally required."

The report is now available at www.gao.gov under "Today's Reports, May 3, 2000."
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NEW HOWARD UNIVERSITY STUDY ON RISING ASTHMA INCIDENCES IN INNER CITIES

Blue Bell, PA, May 4 - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 17 million Americans have asthma - an increase of more than 24 percent since 1994. More than five million of those afflicted are children and adolescents.

In an initiative to help reduce the incidence of asthma, Aetna U.S. Healthcare (R) is funding a $395,000 Howard University research study that examines asthma among residents of inner cities.

"Both asthma prevalence and death rates have increased dramatically in America over several decades," notes Floyd Malveaux, MD, the study's principal investigator. "This is especially true among poor, inner-city residents."

Source: Aetna U.S. Healthcare (R) Press Release, www.aetnaushc.com , May 3, 2000

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AAP RELEASES NEW GUIDELINES FOR DIAGNOSIS OF ADHD

Chicago, May 1 - The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new recommendations for the assessment of school-age children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Research in various community and practice settings shows that between 4 and 12 percent of all school-age children may have ADHD, making it the most common childhood neurobehavioral disorder. Children with ADHD may experience significant functional problems such as academic underachievement, troublesome relationships with family members and peers, and behavioral problems.

The new guidelines stress that the information used to diagnose ADHD should come from parents, caregivers and teachers. Physicians should determine the age when symptoms first appeared, how long symptoms tend to last, and how much they impair the child's ability to function in various settings.

Diagnostic evaluations should determine other conditions - such as learning and language problems, aggression or disruptive behavior, depression, and anxiety - since as many as one third of children with ADHD have one of these conditions, the guidelines explain.

Source: AAP Press Release, www.aap.org , May 1, 2000.
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GET YOUR INAUGURAL EDITION OF "SIGN THEM UP! A QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS"

The Children's Defense Fund's Health Division has free copies available of "Sign Them Up! A Quarterly Newsletter on Children's Health Insurance Programs (CHIP)." The inaugural edition focuses on the key role the child care community plays in outreach for Medicaid and CHIP. The newsletter highlights child care partners that are helping to spread the word about the availability of health insurance for children, such as the YMCA, Head Start, resource and referral agencies, and Child and Adult Care Food Programs.

The newsletter also contains:

~ 10 Ways to Help Enroll Children in Medicaid and CHIP
~ National News
~ Reports From Across the Country
~ Valuable Resources of Information

If you would like to request a copy of the inaugural edition of "Sign Them Up! A Quarterly Newsletter on Children's Health Insurance Programs," please contact Lisa Frank at 202-662-3645 or lfrank@childrensdefense.org .

When requesting a newsletter, please include:
Name
Organization
Address
Phone Number
E-mail address
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