The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, together with Children’s Medical Center of Dallas and Dallas Independent School District, today kicked off an outreach program designed to help enroll Dallas children in health insurance through local area schools. 

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation awarded a $385,000 grant to Children’s Medical Center of Dallas to support the outreach program. Children’s will work with DISD to reach the thousands of children in their school system who are uninsured but eligible for coverage through TexCare, the statewide campaign to enroll children in CHIP and Medicaid. This grant is part of the insure•a•kid Texas Grants for School Outreach. The Foundation has committed $1.7 million to five communities across Texas in the first year of this new initiative. 

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has created the insure•a•kid Texas Grants for School Outreach to help communities develop school outreach programs for children’s health insurance in their own districts. It is the hope that through these grants, schools will incorporate children’s health insurance outreach activities into routine district policies and procedures to be certain eligible families are aware of the health insurance available to their children. 

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation presented the grant during a news conference at John F. Kennedy Learning Center. Mike Moses, superintendent of DISD and George Farr, president and CEO of Children’s, joined Patti Everitt of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation to announce the grant and to kick-off the program. 

“Children’s Medical Center of Dallas is honored to be chosen as the recipient of this generous grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation on behalf of the children in our community,” said George Farr, president and CEO of Children’s Medical Center of Dallas. “All children deserve to have a physician who knows them and takes care of them on a routine basis throughout their childhood. We have a unique opportunity to work with DISD to reach thousands of children here in North Texas who are in need of health insurance.” 

Three years ago, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation launched insure•a•kid with the goal of improving the overall health of children by enrolling more children in health insurance through CHIP and Medicaid. CHIP alone has increased the access to health care for more than half a million children across Texas and improved not only their health, but also their success in school as well. 

Currently in Dallas County, more than 47,000 children are enrolled in CHIP and more than 127,000 in Medicaid. As a result, these children have comprehensive health care coverage, enabling them to go to the doctor for checkups or get prescriptions if they are sick. Additionally, these children can see a dentist for dental care and have their vision screened and if needed, receive glasses. Yet based on the Current Population Survey data, there are nearly one million uninsured children in Texas who could be eligible for Children's Medicaid or CHIP."" 

“School based outreach programs like the insure•a•kid initiative have proven to be one of the most effective ways to enroll children in health insurance,” said Mike Moses, superintendent of DISD. “DISD understands that helping our children connect to health insurance is in the interest of both the district and our students because healthy children are better students.”

Tens of thousands of children in North Texas have limited access to healthcare because they are uninsured. Uninsured children are the least likely to have routine access to a physician or to a regular source of health care. Compared with children who have insurance, uninsured children are more likely to be sick as newborns, less likely to be immunized on time, and less likely to receive medical treatments when they are injured or sick. Children with untreated illnesses, injuries and chronic health conditions have a harder time performing well at school and are 25 percent more likely to miss school. 

“Michael and I founded the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation with a commitment to children and their future,” said Susan Dell. “We have a personal stake in the future of children in Texas, and we want to support local efforts that improve outcomes for children. We envision a time when informing parents about their health insurance options becomes a routine like signing parents up for the PTA.” 

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has also awarded a $300,000 grant as part of the insure•a•kid Texas Grants for School Outreach to Catholic Charities, Inc. in Fort Worth. Catholic Charities will work with Fort Worth ISD, Arlington ISD, Cleburne ISD and Nocona ISD to incorporate outreach strategies into their daily school routines."