MEDICAID: President To Unveil Enrollment Initiative

      President Clinton travels to Nashville, TN, today to unveil a new government effort to find and enroll eligible children in the federal-state Medicaid program. The president "will order eight federal agencies ... to sign up" the 4.7 million children nationwide who are estimated to be qualified for Medicaid but not enrolled. According to USA Today, the initiative "will include an effort to reach the children's grandparents through Medicare and sending letters to 350,000 federal workers whose jobs put them in contact with children." In addition, the president will "[u]nveil an effort to support the children of seriously ill adults." The National Cancer Institute and the Center for Mental Health Services plan to host a conference on the subject later this year (Page, 6/22).

The Gore's Day
      Clinton will unveil the Medicaid initiative at a two-day conference on the family sponsored by Vice President Gore and Tipper Gore. The Family Reunion VII meeting will focus on families and health care. It will bring "together policy makers, academics, advocates and others to discuss the latest research and the most promising programs dealing with" this issue (Page, USA Today, 6/22). The vice president is expected to unveil today several government initiatives to boost Medicare coverage and better inform seniors about their health care options.