News release
The Gift of Health Care Coverage
December 23, 2010
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
MomsRising Launches Social Media Campaign to Inform Parents about Health Care Coverage for their Kids
There are nearly five million uninsured children in the United States who are eligible for free or low-cost health care coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), but are not yet enrolled. MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization for moms and everyone who has a mom, has launched a social media public awareness campaign this holiday season to help give uninsured children the gift of health care coverage.
MomsRising is reaching out to its more than one million members, nearly 300 bloggers and more than 150 aligned organizations, to spread the word through social media about great low- and no-cost children's health coverage. This social media campaign links to a webpage that provides easy one-click ways for anyone on Twitter or Facebook, or with access to email, to share information about children health coverage. Sample tweets, emails and Facebook updates in both English and Spanish provide links to the url (www.insurekidsnow.gov) and phone number (1-877-KIDS-NOW) where people can find out how to enroll their children. The Spanish tweet and Facebook update include a link to Spanish-language resources (http://espanol.insurekidsnow.gov/enes/). MomsRising has more than ten thousand Twitter followers.
Since Monday, the message has been retweeted by people and organizations across the country, including actress Fran Drescher; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Arizona AFL-CIO; Mamapalooza; Every Child Matters; Laid Off, Left Out; Insured4Less; SpanglishBaby; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Elisa Batista, MomsRising Outreach Specialist, is helping to spread word in Latina social media communities. Her most recent blog, available in both English and Spanish, details the experience of Nadia, a single mom living in California, and lets families know that enrolling their children in public health care coverage programs is not difficult.
“Most kids are probably asking for video games, books or iPods this holiday season,” said MomsRising Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “But health care coverage is the gift that keeps on giving. The sad fact is that there are five million uninsured children in the U.S. who could get low- or no-cost health care coverage, but their parents or guardians don’t know it. We are working with our members and our colleagues in the blogosphere to educate families about children’s eligibility and how they can access this coverage.”