ACHI Director Appears on C-SPAN's Washington Journal.

Dr. Joe Thompson, MD, MPH, ACHI Director, Arkansas Surgeon General, and Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss policy strategies to reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.  The program originally aired Monday, February 1, 2010 from 8 - 9 a.m. Central. Information on additional showings is available here http://www.c-span.org/Series/Washington-Journal.aspx.

State Coverage Initiatives Reports Release of New Brief On Impact of Health Reform on States

The following is an excerpt from St@teside, an on-line newsletter from State Coverage Initiatives, an initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and AcademyHealth:

While the prospects of health reform may have been dealt a serious blow with the Massachusetts election, at this point in time some compromise between the House and Senate bills remains possible. It is critical to realize that the problems a reform bill would have begun to address still remain. In addition, the cost of failure for our nation’s economy is daunting.

Thus it remains important to show the effect of health reform on people in individual states. Because state coverage levels vary dramatically in the current system, any significant reforms would affect states differently. A new report, How Would States Be Affected by Health Reform?, produced by the Urban Institute, funded in part by State Coverage Initiatives, uses the recent Senate bill as a starting point to examine this variation and provide detailed state and regional data.

Key findings include:

§  A large share of those who would benefit live in Southern and Western states, because of the states’ low levels of Medicaid coverage, relatively large low-income populations, and higher  rates of uninsurance.

§  Overall, about 18.6 million people would become newly eligible for Medicaid under the Senate bill, disproportionately in Southern and Western states; another 22.8 million people are currently eligible for Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but not enrolled in those programs. Forty seven percent of the nation’s uninsured could potentially be covered through Medicaid once reform is in place.

§  Nine Southern states (West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas) and three states in the West (New Mexico, Oregon, and Hawaii) would have more than 10 percent of their population newly eligible for Medicaid.

§  The population with incomes between 133 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) – the main group potentially eligible for subsidies under the health reform proposals – account for 87 million Americans. Not all would receive subsidies because of restrictions for those with offers of employer-based coverage. 

§  95.2 million people—or 37 percent of the non-elderly population—would not be eligible for subsidies because their family income exceeds 400 percent of the FPL.A larger share of a state’s population falls into this income group in the Northeast (e.g. over 50 percent in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts) than in other regions, particularly the South (e.g., less than 30 percent in West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi, and Arkansas).

Read this brief.

Michelle Obama to Fight Child Obesity at Grass Roots

According to USA Today, the First Lady has said she hopes one of her legacies will be her work in reducing childhood obesity, an effort she already has begun by planting the White House garden and joining in physical activities with children.

The idea behind the 1,100 garden on the White House South Lawn is to educate children about healthful locally grown fruit and vegetables and through children, educate families and in turn, communities. 

On January 20, USA Today included an article covering the First Lady's speech at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, saying that she plans to expand her grass roots efforts to put in place common-sense initiatives and solutions that empower families and communities to make health decisions for their kids.  Click here to read the article.

Boone and Newton Counties Receive One of 41 Community Grants From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities Initiative.

The North Arkansas Partnership for Health Education (NAPHE) will use the grant to help fund their Healthy Kids, Healthy Ozarks project which aims to expand and improve upon earlier efforts to address childhood obesity and other health issues in the Boone and Newton counties area.  Working in collaboration with numerous public and private partners, including ACHI, the project will work to bring more affordable healthy foods to residents and to help children to be more active.

The grants represent Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) expansion of a landmark national program to create communities where children and their families have access to healthy, affordable foods and safe places to play and exercise.  Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities—one of the Foundation's largest and most ambitious community-action initiatives ever—is a cornerstone of RWJF's $500 million commitment in childhood obesity prevention. A complete list of the sites, descriptions and contact information is available at www.healthykidshealthycommunities.org.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity lead by ACHI in strategic partnership with PolicyLink (www.reversechildhoodobesity.org) is an integral part of the RWJF commitment in childhood obesity.

Arkansas to Participate in Safe Routes to School National Partnership's 2010-2011 State Network Project

Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas in partnership with the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention has been awarded a grant to help increase physical activity for children in grades K-8 by increasing safe opportunities for children to walk and bicycle to school. The grant will complement current work undertaken through the Arkansas Safe Routes to School program, a partnership between the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department and the Injury Prevention Center at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

The grant is part of the expansion of the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) National Partnership State Network Project with funding provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ACHI Honors Long-Time Friends and Welcomes New Annual Sponsor During

Annual Holiday Party

Susan Hanrahan, incoming Health Policy Board Chair and Bob McGinnis, honored for his service as past Chair, look on as Joe Thompson presents a token of appreciation to Tom and Dolores Bruce.  In addition to serving on the Health Policy Board for more than ten years, Tom and his wife, Dolores, provided the initial support necessary to launch ACHI through the a challenge grant from the Thomas A. and Dolores F. Bruce Endowment Fund of the Arkansas Community Foundation.

The annual ACHI holiday party has traditionally been a time to recognize those whose service has meant so much to the Center's success. This year that recognition was especially poignant as four long-time friends of the Center were honored for their many years of dedicated service and a new annual sponsor was announced.

Honored were retiring members of ACHI's Administrative Committee, Robert Shoptaw (Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield) and Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, MD (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), along with Dr. Tom Bruce who retired his position on the ACHI Health Policy Board after more than ten years of service.  Bob McGinnis, who has been a member of the Health Policy Board since 1999 was honored too for his service as Health Policy Board Chairman. 

Dr. Joe Thompson, ACHI Director, expressed sincere gratitude on behalf of the entire Center staff for the many years of leadership, commitment and support provided by these visionary men.  He said, "Bob Shoptaw, Chancellor Wilson, Tom Bruce and Bob McGinnis have not only helped ACHI grow from an idea to the important catalyst for change that it is today, they have also been friends and trusted advisors."

Aa hearty welcome was also given to Ed Choate, President and CEO of Delta Dental of Arkansas -- ACHI's newest annual sponsor. This new sponsorship will provide additional core support that allows ACHI to respond to emerging issues raised by policy makers and provides the ability to meet new demands on ACHI's staff capacity.  As chief administrator of Delta Dental of Arkansas, Ed Choate will take a place on the ACHI Administrative Committee.

Senator Blanche Lincoln

Discusses Health Care Reform

with Governor's Roundtable on Health Care

On November 16, 2009, the Governor's Roundtable on Health Care met to discuss several current issues with significant impact on the health of Arkansans.

Included was the impact of federal health care reform legislation on Arkansas.  Senator Lincoln joined the discussion via teleconference to provide an update from Capitol Hill and to exchange questions and answers with members of the Roundtable. 

Other issues discussed included: the positive results of Arkansas' tobacco Prevention and Cessation program including a presentation from State Health Director, Dr. Paul Halverson; and a panel presentation covering the various components of Arkansas' Health Information Technology efforts.  For more information including presentation materials, click here.

ACHI's Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity Hosts Healthy Kids, Healthy Nation: Reversing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic by 2015

More than 400 members of national program offices and grantee organizations funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) childhood obesity initiative gathered in Atlanta, GA for a two-day conference hosted by the RWJF Center housed at ACHI in strategic partnership with PolicyLink (Oakland, CA). 

During the conference, attendees created a shared strategy to promote synergy that will advance the national movement to reverse our nation's childhood obesity epidemic.

For the latest news, resources and updates on our progress, please visit      www.reversechildhoodobesity.org.

Sam Kass, Assistant White House Chef and Food Initiative Coordinator delivered

a keynote message focused on First Lady Michelle Obama's interest in promoting

health and wellness and work on curbing the spread of childhood obesity.

ACHI Releases New Report:  The Impact of National Health Care Reform on Arkansas

This report takes a look at:

· What the employer-sponsored health insurance system looks like in Arkansas, including unemployment rates, the size of businesses in our state and the number of people who don’t have insurance coverage.
· How Arkansans might be effected by health care reform, considering general level of education, homeownership, foreclosure rates, medical bankruptcy and the amount of money Arkansans earn.
Click here to view the report

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity

Based at ACHI, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Center was launched in 2009 as a national institution focused solely on the epidemic that threatens our country's children and adolescents – and on the actions needed to reverse it. Leadership for the RWJF Center is provided by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement in strategic partnership with PolicyLink. For more information visit, www.reversechildhoodobesity.org

The Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention (ArCOP)

ArCOP has announced a new opportunity that will enable communities state-wide to address the childhood, adolescent and adult obesity problem. In addition to ArCOP, this initiative, entitled Growing Healthy Communities, brings together the following partners for implementation: the LifeStages Branch of the Arkansas Department of Health, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health.  Click here for more information and application materials.