Government Subsidized Healthcare for Children

Here's my first position paper. I wrote about the Child Health Plus program in New York. There's a similar program, Peach Care for Kids, in Georgia but there's been a lot of controversy with in the last year because of funding/eligibility. New York seems to have a pretty successful program.

Rachel Sz.

The Basics:

• It is estimated that approximately 650,000 children in NYC are without health insurance. Many families are not eligible for Medicaid but still cannot afford insurance for their children.
• Child Health Plus is a government subsidized, low-cost insurance program to cover children.
• To be eligible, a child must be a resident of New York. US citizenship is not required.
• The cost is determined by family income.
• The benefits are free for children in a family of four with a monthly income of less than $1,605 ($19,200 a year). The program operates on a sliding fee scale of a family income level to almost $38,000 a year.
• Federal and state funded (24 billion and 1.3 billion, respectively)

Positives:

• Provides affordable medical services for children that would otherwise not have access.
• Low-income families can properly care for their children without tremendous financial burden.
• Community health issues decrease when the majority of residents are provided with adequate medical coverage.
• The state has made efforts to further extend the program. Recent legislation expanded funding for the program. Children up to 18 years of age that are living in families with less than 222 percent of poverty are eligible.

Negatives:

• The program is not as widely publicized as it could be. Approximately 650,000 children are uninsured but CHP only covers about 124,000.
• Middle class dilemma. Many families are ineligible for federal assistance but can’t afford insurance either.

New York has one of the most extensive and progressive public health insurance systems. The program has broad eligibility standards and very adequate benefits. The public health insurance system goes beyond federal standards. I am in support of public health insurance programs, particularly the extensive program of New York. Efforts to enroll more families and children should be made.

Websites:

http://www.cssny.org/pubs/urbanagenda/1998_08_20.html

http://www.nyhealth.gov/nysdoh/chplus/

http://www.nyc.gov/html/hia/html/public_insurance/children.shtml

Hello!

So tonight I was supposed to volunteer for Project for the Homeless, but I didn't know I needed to go with someone until it was too late :-(. Next time I will definitely spread the word around to everyone to see if someone wants to go with me. I'm pretty sure Courtney went a few weeks ago, so hopefully you'll talk about it tomorrow during our seminar (or I'll stop by 4G sometime to hear about it!).

I'm writing a paper (or will be, once midterms are over) for my Urban Politics Class about homelessness in NYC, specifically comparing the approaches of different non-profits in the city to solving, or helping alleviate, the issue. If I have time, I also want to look into DHS (the Department for Homeless Services) and their policies to see what is working well and what everyone could be doing to help solve the issue. Doing the homeless count with Common Ground last winter really got me into the issue of homelessness, and I'm looking forward learning more about specific policies applied to the issue.

And in light of that, I'm pretty sure that next semester I'd like to intern with one of these non-profits dealing with homelessness (or maybe even DHS...I'm not sure...), and for my project I want to get to know the homeless people who live in our neighborhood, mainly around Columbia. I'm not totally sure yet how I'm going to go about this yet, but it really bothers me that I walk by these people every day and feel helpless, and I really don't like ignoring them.

So that's all for now, but I hope midterms are going well for everyone and see you all tomorrow!

Kirsten

AWESOME Volunteer Opportunity

Hey loves :)

I don't know how many of you are Team Hillary (I'm just chilling on the sidelines for now before I pick sides), but this is a really great upcoming volunteer opportunity with an organization called Eleanor's Legacy on October 15th and Hill will be there. It's just a couple of hours and there's a chance to hear some really amazing women speak... I'm definitely going and I'd love to have company!

xoxo
Whitney

ps. Will: Is it ok for me to use the blog for this purpose?

.......................................................................................................................................................

Dear Volunteers,

The Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee will honor Ellen Malcolm, founder and president of EMILY’s List, along with special invited guest Senator Hillary Clinton, at its
7th Annual Fall Campaign Luncheon on Monday, October 15, 2007. New York’s First Lady, Silda Wall Spitzer, will also be speaking at this year’s Luncheon.

Last year’s Luncheon brought together 1,000 Democratic women and men from nearly every county in the state and raised $480,000 for progressive Democratic women candidates. The Luncheon is one of the most exciting political events of the year! We hope you can volunteer your time to help make this year’s Luncheon our most successful yet.

Monday, October 15th, 10:45 AM—1:30 PM
7th Annual Fall Campaign Luncheon
Featuring Ellen Malcolm, founder and president of EMILY’s List
At the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City
Park Avenue at Grand Central Terminal
New York, New York 10017
Dress, business casual
45 volunteers needed
Please contact Raina Lipsitz at raina@eleanorslegacy.com or 212-725-8825 ext. 5230 if you are interested in volunteering.

Volunteers are asked to arrive PROMPTLY at 10:45 AM on the morning of October 15th. Space and time permitting, volunteers will be admitted to the room to hear Ellen Malcolm’s speech.

Please feel free to forward this e-mail to friends, colleagues, and other interested parties.

We hope to see you on October 15th!

Yours truly,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raina Lipsitz
Programs Coordinator
The Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee
212-725-8825 ext. 5230

First Seminar

So, what did you think about our first seminar? Favorites? Least favorites? Let's do those comments!!!!

Community Service & Volunteerism

So, over the course of the first semester, I've asked each of you to complete about 20 hours of community service. Last night, I went further to say that the number of hours isn't as important as is the regularity of you getting out into the community and out of the cocoon of Barnard's campus and immediate surroundings. Use this comments section to post the issues, locations, or projects that you are personally interested in working on during the Fall. Then, read everyone else's comments and see if you match with other CEH'ers....

Welcome to Civic Engagement House 2007-2008!

WELCOME! The start of this academic year marks the THIRD year we have offered Civic Engagement House. Over the course of the year we will be addressing many issues relevant to New York City, activism, political organizing, and more. This will be our space to reflect and discuss with each other. Feel free to comment, post, etc!

So, to get us started, what are you looking forward to this year? What do you hope to get out of Civic Engagement House? What are you most worried about? Just tell us, in the comments section, what you are thinking RIGHT NOW! :)