Consumers for Affordable Health Care


			What is the Health Care Helpline? Consumers for Affordable Health Care Foundation is part of the Covering Kids and Families Campaign, a collaborative effort funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to enroll uninsured children and adults in the MaineCare Program. MaineCare offers free and low-cost health and dental insurance to children, parents, pregnant women, and adults that meet certain income guidelines. The Covering Kids Campaign offers free trainings to social service workers, health care workers and others.

		While Maine has done well relative to other states in enrolling uninsured children into these programs, there are still thousands of uninsured children that are eligible for free or low-cost coverage, but not enrolled. These children often go without needed care because their families cannot afford the staggering costs. The Covering Kids and Families Campaign reaches these children through a variety outreach activities aimed at businesses, unions, faith-based organizations, social service agencies, schools, health care providers, associations, civic and fraternal organizations, and health care consumers. Consumers for Affordable Health Care Foundation has several key focuses within the context of the Campaign. Our focuses include: Consumers - CAHC develops outreach strategies to directly target health care consumers that may be eligible for coverage. Strategies include outreach events at fairs and festivals, partnerships with local newspapers, and word-of-mouth campaigns. CAHC Foundation also coordinates the Consumers Task Force which brings health care consumers together to plan outreach events and provide direct input to the Campaign. Please Contact Us to find out how you can join the Consumers Task Force Businesses and Unions - CAHC works closely with businesses and unions to encourage them to publicize these programs to their employees and members. CAHC also coordinates the Businesses and Unions task force. Urban Outreach - CAHC targets a number of urban areas throughout the state for concerted outreach efforts. Recent urban areas have included Lewiston-Auburn and the Kittery/York/Berwick area HelpLine - CAHC offers a toll-free HelpLine (1-800-965-7476) to assist consumers with the process of applying for MaineCare. The HelpLine is answered by CAHC employees trained in MaineCare eligibility policy and is available to individual consumers and community-based organizations working with consumers. There are many opportunities to become involved in the Covering Kids and Families Campaign. One of the easiest ways to become a part of the campaign is to attend one of the many trainings on MaineCare that we hold throughout the state. Please Contact Us to find out if there are any trainings available in your area. For more information on MaineCare: CAHC Foundation's Guide to Health Care for Maine People contains a great deal of information on MaineCare. Bureau of Family Independence has a section of their web site devoted to Low Cost MaineCare. It includes an online application that you can print out and complete. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Covering Kids web site provides a great deal of information on children's health insurance programs nationally. The Bureau of Family Independence posts the MaineCare Eligibility Manual on its web site. This is the manual that DHS caseworkers use to determine applicant's eligibility for MaineCare. WARNING: These are administrative rules and some sections may be confusing or even misleading to a lay-person unfamiliar with MaineCare jargon. The Children's Defense Fund publishes a variety of materials on children's health insurance. Go to our MaineCare Resources Page for more great resources.