Today is an exciting day in children’s health! As this press release explains, Secretary of Health and Human Services Sebelius is urging leaders from across government and the private sector to join the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge. The Challenge issued by the Secretary is to enroll the nearly five million uninsured children eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) over the next five years. For additional information about these children, please see this new study published in the journal Health Affairs today and find out your state’s Medicaid/CHIP participation rate on an interactive map by clicking here.

At the New England Alliance for Children’s Health, an initiative of Community Catalyst, we enthusiastically support the Secretary’s efforts and have formally accepted the Challenge. We’ve done this because we believe, just as the Secretary does, that as the nation moves forward with health insurance reform for all Americans, children do not have to wait. Medicaid and CHIP together provide a vital opportunity to extend coverage to millions of eligible but enrolled children today. Will you accept the Challenge?

—Patrick Tigue, Children’s Health Care Coordinator, New England Alliance for Children’s Health