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New Issue Brief on Adolescent Depression

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Audio Archive- Identifying and Treating Maternal Depression Webinar

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New Expert Voices: Hospital Market Consolidation

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New Expert Voices: Uninsured and Eligible for Coverage

NIHCM Foundation is pleased to release a new edition of Expert Voices, "Uninsured and Eligible for Coverage: Underlying ...

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Webinar: Identifying and Treating Maternal Depression

NIHCM Foundation invites you to participate in an important webinar:Identifying and Treating Maternal Depression:Strategies a...

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New Expert Voices: Why America Spends More on Health Care

NIHCM Foundation is pleased to release a new edition of Expert Voices, "Why America Spends More on Health Care", by...

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MCAH Spotlight: Sharing Health Plan Initiatives on Maternal & Child Health

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) recently launched its Pediatric Obesity and Diabetes Prevention Pilot Program in five states in an effort to help reduce childhood obesity and prevent future cases of diabetes. The pilot program consists of an easy-to-use obesity and diabetes prevention toolkit designed for physicians that has convenient physician reference materials, as well as educational and behavior changing tools to share with patients and parents. The toolkit, developed in consultation with the American Diabetes Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), encourages healthy choices and behaviors and will be piloted in collaboration with five BCBSA companies in Texas, New Mexico, Mississippi, North Carolina and Kansas City. BCBSA and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies involved in the pilot will collect feedback and findings from physicians through discussions and surveys. Upon conclusion of the pilot, BCBSA will use the findings to create a nationally-available toolkit to assist physicians, children and families in reducing childhood obesity and preventing future cases of diabetes. Read the official press release to learn more about these efforts. 

Three health plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, along with Massachusetts' Medicaid program, have pledged to collectively contribute $10 million to a fund that will enable Children's Hospital Boston to accelerate pilot programs aimed at providing lower cost and higher quality care. The Hospital has agreed in exchange to limit increases in fees it charges the insurers next year. The hospital will curb its rate of fee increases for doctor visits, tests and surgical procedures between 50 and 75 percent in the coming year. These efforts are all part of a larger push to control rises in pediatric health care.  Read the official press release here.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona is offering fifth-grade teachers across the state an opportunity to win one of five $5,000 grants to promote fitness among their students and combat childhood obesity. The Walk On! Challenge is a free 28-day exercise challenge offered annually in February designed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona to motivate fifth-graders across the state to include exercise in their daily routines.  Teachers have the opportunity to win one of the grants by registering their classroom for the program on the Walk On! website, allowing them to extend the program beyond the month of February. All children who complete the challenge (which includes a full 60 minutes of exercise every day for the month) will receive a reward (a drawstring backpack) and be entered into a drawing for prizes including iPod Shuffles and Wii Fit game consoles. Read the official press release here.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield  has issued a grant of nearly $100,000 to the Summit Health Institute for Research and Education (SHIRE), Inc. to fund a five- month paid program for 40 young people ages 15 to 20 in D.C. Wards 7 and 8 to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS and childhood obesity. The SHIRE Teen Health Educators Program  provides training in HIV/AIDS, nutrition and health education, advocacy and career guidance. After completing the education part of the program, SHIRE teen health educators showcase their knowledge in community health workshops and a live theatre production designed for 12 to 19 year olds living in Wards 7 and 8. The program works in partnership with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's 2009 Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), and recruitment is being coordinated with community based organizations, including: Ward 8 ANC leaders, the Childhood Obesity Prevention Collaborative, Howard University, Maya Angelou School in Ward 7, and the DC Summer Youth Employment Job Fair.

A new national initiative to transform safety-net clinics into medical homes  has been launched in five states. Six million dollars has been provided to help 68 community health centers in Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Oregon and Pennsylvania transform into patient-centered medical homes. These health centers will be given training and ongoing support to improve the coordination of information between primary care and specialty care or community providers, use information technology to improve care for those with chronic conditions, and obtain feedback from patients for quality improvement. The initiative is being lead by Qualis Health, working closely with the MacColl Institute for Healthcare Innovation, and is funded by the Commonwealth Fund, the Colorado Health Foundation, the Jewish Healthcare Foundation, Northwest Health Foundation, Partners HealthCare, The Boston Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation, Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. For more information, see http://www.qhmedicalhome.org/safety-net/index.cfm .

Highmark Caring Place, A Center for Grieving Children, Adolescents and Their Families  offers support groups, referrals and reference tools at no cost for grieving families. One child in 20 will have a parent die before he or she graduates from high school. In recognition that children and families may need additional support around Father's Day, the Caring Place offered strategies for dealing with the death of a father and provided support services and reference tools. For more information, see http://www.highmarkcaringplace.com/updates/2009/pr060109.shtml.

Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina  and WellPoint  have joined the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's Healthcare Initiative  (Alliance Healthcare Initiative). The Alliance Healthcare Initiative is a collaborative effort by insurers, employers and national medical associations to combat childhood obesity through the provision of comprehensive health benefits for the prevention, assessment and treatment of childhood obesity. These benefits include at least four follow up visits with their primary care provider and four visits with a registered dietitian per year for eligible Children. The Alliance aims to provide more than 6.2 million children with access to this healthcare benefit within the next three years. See the Alliance for a Healthier Generation's website  for more information.

Starting in January 2010, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma  will offer an autism benefit to insured groups. Benefit enhancements are expected to include evaluation and management procedures, speech, physical and occupational therapies. For more information see http://www.bcbsok.com/autism_benefits.html .

Independence Blue Cross  (IBC) is offering the award-winning Health eTools for Schools  web-based program at no cost to the school district of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia school district will add approximately 161,000 students from 270 schools resulting in a total enrollment in Health eTools for Schools in the five-county region of nearly 375,000 students. IBC launched the program last spring in schools throughout the region to help school nurses, teachers, administrators and parents reduce student obesity and encourage young people to adopt healthy lifestyles. For more information see http://www.ibx.com/news_events/press_releases/2009 /01_13_Phila__School_District_a.html.

On March 13 BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina Foundation  (BCBSSCF) is granting almost $1.4 million to expand the nationally recognized Nurse-Family Partnership  (NFP) program in South Carolina. NFP is an evidence-based, nurse home visiting program to improve the health of low-income, first- time parents and their children. BCBSSCF is partnering with The Duke Endowment, South Carolina First Steps, the Children's Trust of South Carolina and the Department of Health and Environmental Control to target 100 families in Horry County, following them from the point of pregnancy confirmation through the child's second year. For more information on this initiative see BCBSSCF's official press releaseNFP website.

In 2008 the Horizon Foundation for New Jersey  awarded $6.6 million in grants to 125 organizations to support programs addressing childhood obesity and other public health issues. Awards included: $50,000 to Children's Futures in Trenton in support of its comprehensive obesity prevention and education program for children ages 0- 3; $20,000 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology Foundation for its Promoting Better Health for At-Risk Teenagers Initiative that encourages young people to lead healthier lives through better nutrition and physical fitness; $20,000 to the Greater Newark Conservatory for its Nutrition Education Program that highlights the role of nutrition in preventing chronic diseases; $20,000 to the Newark Boys Chorus School for a project that provides physical activities to students to help balance time spent in the classroom. For information on other recipients, see http://www.horizon-bcbsnj.com/news_room/news_releases/article.html?id=11114.
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota  is investing up to $650,000 in additional funds from its tobacco settlement to promote healthier eating and improve health in the state next year. Blue Cross is awarding eight "Healthy Eating Minnesota" contracts  to communities to support a wide range of healthy eating strategies. For example, the Dakota County Public Health Department will work with Blue Cross to assess and improve healthy food policies in five schools districts reaching approximately 31,000 staff and students. Additionally, a media campaign called "Every Helping Helps" has been launched to double the percentage of Minnesota residents who eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. For more information on Healthy Eating Minnesota see http://www.bcbs.com/news/plans/blue-cross-teams-up-with.html.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona  is stepping up its efforts to encourage Arizona youth to be more physically active through walking by introducing an enhanced version of its popular Walk On! program for 2009 that includes more incentives for participants and easier reporting for teachers. Walk On!  is an innovative school-based activity program designed to motivate kids in grades K-8 statewide to incorporate exercise into their daily routines throughout the school year. The Walk On! Challenge component of the program challenges fifth-graders statewide to compete for prizes by completing 10,000 steps every day in February. 2009 will mark the successful program's fourth year. More information on the Walk On! program is available at http://walkonaz.com/.

Highmark Blue Shield  has awarded $33,250 to four nonprofit organizations in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley to support meal programs for underprivileged children and adults. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, nearly 1.2 million Pennsylvanians, or almost 10 percent of the state's population, live in households that are at risk for hunger. Highmark awarded grants to Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, CHANNELS Food Rescue, New Bethany Ministries, and Second Harvest Food Bank to help each organization increase its available food supply and expand its services to reach a greater population of children and families. For more information see http://www.bcbs.com/news/plans/highmark-blue-shield-awards.html

The Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas  has awarded a total of $1,056,320 in grants to 21 health improvement programs in Arkansas for 2009. Grants with a maternal and child health focus include: Beebe Public Schools, Boston Mountain Rural Health Center, Boys and Girls Club of Central Arkansas, and NEA Clinic Charitable Foundation for afterschool programs promoting physical activity, healthy nutrition, and health education; Museum of Discovery for providing sexual health education courses to teachers and students in grades 4-8 to help reduce teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease; Community Clinic Rogers Medical to provide pediatric medical services to 1,300 low-income and uninsured children; and Crittenden Regional Hospital to provide prenatal and postpartum home visits by doulas to assess needs and barriers to care for pregnant women. Additional information including a complete listing of the 21 grants awarded is available at http://www.bcbs.com/news/plans/blue-you-foundation.html .

WellPoint, Inc., the WellPoint Foundation  and the X PRIZE Foundation  have teamed up to develop a $10 million or more competition to generate new ways to address the nation's serious health care system challenges. WellPoint and the X PRIZE Foundation will solicit participation from employers, health care providers, consumers, government partners and other interested parties to develop competition guidelines that reflect the health care industry's most pressing challenges. The award amount, competition rules and guidelines are expected to be finalized in early 2009. WellPoint will test the selected finalists' entries in its state markets, in order to evaluate their ability to result in viable, creative and achievable health care system changes. To learn more about the competition and to participate in the development of the prize, please visit www.xprize.org/wellpoint.

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