It is encouraging that more children are now enrolled in health insurance programs.  As health insurance costs have risen and employer-based family coverage declined, the two federal programs designed to provide health services for kids —Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)— grew, and now cover approximately one-third of all children in the United States.

Voices for America’s Children is committed toward ensuring the healthy development of kids from birth through adulthood.  We were the first, national children’s organization to accept U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s “Connecting Kids to Coverage” Challenge.  The Challenge called upon leaders at all levels of government and the private sector to find and enroll the nearly five million uninsured children eligible for Medicaid and CHIP and keep them covered for as long as they qualify.

In addition, Voices released “A Call to Action on Breastfeeding” in December 2011.   Our Call to Action outlined the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby and mother, ways to remove the impediments to breastfeeding, and policy recommendations to support mothers and their babies with breastfeeding.

Considering more than 85 percent of Americans own a cell phone and 72% of cell users send or receive text messages, the Text4Baby campaign is an opportune means through which to provide expecting and new mothers with critical information on providing for their child, including breastfeeding tips. 

Through a free health text messaging service in the U.S., Text4baby supports expecting and new mothers by providing accurate, text-length health information and resources in a format that is personal and timely, using a channel she knows and uses.

Together, the “Connecting Kids to Coverage” Challenge and Text4Baby campaign will further encourage healthy child development.  Voices for America’s Children is proud to play an integral role in both initiatives and hopes others will join us, in order to ensure more kids gain access to the resources they need to grow and develop healthily.