Suzanne Schlattman of Maryland Health Care for All

By Suzanne Schlattman, Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative Education Fund, Inc.

This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the "Get Covered. Get in the Game initiative" which will be launched in seven pilot states across the country including: Colorado, Florida, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Ohio and Wisconsin. The initiative brings together coaches, schools, and communities to educate families with children who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) about the immediate availability of free and low-cost health care programs for children.

What a great idea! In public health, we stress prevention and leading an active lifestyle is one health behavior that pays the greatest dividends for preventing poor health. However, uninsured kids often miss out on organized youth sporting activities because they cannot afford the necessary physical or because their families are afraid that they won't be able to pay the medical bills if their child gets hurt. Providing coaches with information about affordable health insurance options for children is a great way to promote coverage among eligible families and promote the adoption of healthy behaviors.

In Maryland, we played around with this theme when we launched our "Got healthcare?" campaign after the state expanded Medicaid eligibility for adults in 2007. Local sports heroes from the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins volunteered to help promote the program. We ran radio ads, partnered with local hotlines and put up posters in every hospital to alert people. Having sports celebs promote enrollment in Medicaid helped raise awareness about the program, break down the stereotype that Medicaid was only for pregnant women and children, and again repeated the theme of leading an active lifestyle. Over 200,000 Marylanders have gained access to free and low cost health care services since this campaign began.

Check out one of the great radio ads that was part of this campaign.

It makes a lot of sense to involve youth sports leaders with our enrollment efforts as an estimated 44 million children participate in organized youth sports. Coaches for youth sporting leagues are local celebs in their communities too -- and to have these folks promote enrollment in children's health insurance programs across the country is great news.

In announcing the initiative, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reminded us of why we all need to work hard to connect children with affordable health care coverage:

"Healthy kids do better in school and in life because they are able to participate fully in activities that develop their bodies and their minds," Secretary Sebelius said. "Kids should not have to miss out on their favorite sports and other activities that get them moving because they lack health insurance coverage."

Ed Reed of the Baltimore Ravens helped promote enrollment in Medicaid.