Healthy Together reaches uninsured Pittsburgh youth

This winter there are approximately 2,000 uninsured children in the city of Pittsburgh. While most of these kids qualify for Medicaid, they remain unenrolled.

Enter Healthy Together, an enrollment campaign designed to find these Pittsburgh youth and ensure they can obtain quality and affordable healthcare insurance coverage. The campaign is supported by the Office of Mayor William Peduto in conjunction with Allies for Children, the Consumer Health Coalition, the Allegheny County Health Department and several other local organizations–a partnership that is strongly positioned to reach target families and youth.

The ultimate goal of the campaign is to insure at least 50% of these children by the end of 2015. With the rate of uninsured children in Pennsylvania resting around 5.4% since 2009, a strong program designed to reach these children and assist their families is exactly what Pittsburgh needs. Erika Fricke, health policy director at Allies for Children, sums up the importance of this initiative, “We’re going to beat that [5.4%] trend. This city is going to be different. We know we’ve plateaued and it’s time to take the extra step to make sure that we are reaching those uninsured children.”

Finding uninsured children often means finding uninsured parents as well, and the Consumer Health Coalition can help entire families obtain insurance. Melanie Boyer, a local mother assisted by the Consumer Health Coalition, is thankful for the help she received. “I was incredibly nervous about the process,” she says, “but from the moment we called, everything was perfect. It went so smoothly.” A representative was able to help her find out if her family qualified, mail her the necessary forms and review her paperwork before sending it in. Boyer says they even checked up on her following the process to make sure she was successfully enrolled.

For the Boyer family and many like them, this campaign has provided irreplaceable peace of mind, “You know that you may not be able to give [your children] everything right now, but this is something you can give them,” says Boyer.

For more information on this initiative or on attending enrollment events, visit www.getenrolledpgh.com or call 2-1-1 to reach the Consumer Health Coalition which can provide no-cost assistance with applying for healthcare programs.

Featured photo: Pittsburgh’s Healthy Together campaign, Photo courtesy of Allies for Children