WASHINGTON: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has hired Fleishman-Hillard to promote its national children's health coverage outreach and enrollment campaign.
The contract runs through August 30, 2013, and is worth $2.4 million. The program was authorized by the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIP).
The firm's work will include three waves of targeted work, according to Brian Cook, director of the media relations group at CMS.
The first wave involves “increasing awareness about children's health coverage under Medicaid and CHIP, with respect to eligibility and how families can enroll their children and teens and keep them enrolled for as long as they qualify,” Cook said.
The second wave will motivate families and provide opportunities to enroll and renew coverage for their eligible children and teens in Medicaid and CHIP. The third portion involves designing and promoting outreach and enrollment activities that can be adapted for state and community settings, Cook said.
The program will build on the “Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge” initiative CMS launched in 2010, according to an RFP. It is unclear if Fleishman also worked on that effort. Neither CMS nor Fleishman returned a request for comment on the issue.
The agency's work will include recommendations for each of the three waves of activity, including tactics for earned media, social media, and material development, according to the RFP. The material development portion of the contract involves creating bilingual flyers, brochures, and radio and TV public service announcements. The plan may include the use of paid media if Fleishman sees fit.
A representative from Fleishman did not comment on the contract.
CMS recently hired Weber Shandwick to raise awareness about state healthcare insurance exchanges that will be run by the federal government.