LOS ANGELES, July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Uninsured families now have a one-stop, online source for finding free and low cost health coverage for their children. Developed by the National Health Foundation (NHF), CHAMP-Net, http://www.champ-net.org/, provides easy to use web-based tools and up-to-date information that educates uninsured families and community support workers about all of the public and private health coverage programs for uninsured children and pregnant women in California. "It is an extremely useful tool and easy to use" states a health advocate helping lower income families at a consumer assistance center in Orange County.
Although a variety of public and private health coverage programs are available in California to cover uninsured children, over a million children remain uninsured and most of them are eligible for one of the existing programs. The primary reason that eligible children are not enrolled in one of the health coverage programs is that many parents and community workers do not know about all the available programs. With cuts in government funding for traditional outreach to promote the programs, CHAMP-Net is the most effective means of reaching and educating uninsured families and the community workers that support them about the free and low cost health coverage options available to them.
To further complicate enrolling children in health coverage programs, families have complained about the time wasted in applying to a program to find out that their children were not eligible from the start. CHAMP-Net's Eligibility Calculator(C) is an excellent starting point for easing this problem. In six easy steps (about ten minutes), it guides families to identify the programs for which their children are most likely eligible. The Calculator then links them to important information about applying for the programs. When families have unanswered questions, they can use the website's Ask the Trainers feature to receive personal responses from knowledgeable CHAMP-Net staff. CHAMP-Net's easy to use features take the mystery out of finding the appropriate health coverage program for children.
CHAMP-Net was developed with generous grants from the California Telehealth and Telemedicine Center and the George Hoag Family Foundation. Continuation of the website has been made possible with grants from The Ahmanson Foundation, Good Hope Medical Foundation and The Hoag Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Since 1973, NHF has played a critical role in helping to improve access to health care for uninsured and underinsured populations. Whether helping individuals gain access to medical services or utilizing information technology to promote health and wellness, the Foundation's innovative programs have resulted in independently viable, long-term solutions for the healthcare industry. Detailed information on NHF projects can be found on the website, http://www.nhfca.org/ or by calling 213.538.0708.
National Health FoundationCONTACT: O'Keeya Singleton of National Health Foundation,+1-213-538-0742
Web site: http://www.champ-net.org/
Web site: http://www.nhfca.org/
