Sr. Rosemary Donley, PhD, RN, C-ANP¹, Sharon L. Dudley-Brown, PhD, RN, FNP², Sr. Mary Jean Flaherty, PhD, RN, FAAN¹, Eileen Sarsfield, MSN, APRN, BC¹, Heidi Maloni, MSN, RN, CRNP¹, and laura Taylor, MSn, RN². (1) School of Nursing, The Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Ave. NE, Gowan Hall, Cardinal Station, Washington, DC 20064, 202-319-6469, donley@cua.edu, (2) School of Nursing, Catholic University of America, 620 Michigan Ave, NE, Washington, DC 20064

The latest number of uninsured - 43.6 million Americans cannot be ignored. Eight and a half million of the uninsured are children. Advocacy for the uninsured often focuses on national/local initiatives to expand coverage so that no American will be without health insurance. This presentation discusses a method to identify and enroll eligible people, especially children in existing public programs – specifically Medicaid and SCHIP. The vehicle for increasing access to health care involves teaching graduate students in community/public health nursing to apply their knowledge and advocacy skills by helping people complete and/or teach their friends to complete Medicaid and SCHIP applications. This presentation provides a roadmap for decreasing the number of uninsured.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation, the participant will be able to

1.Discuss the problem of the uninsured related to access to health insurance.
• Describe a method, within an academic setting, to identify and enroll eligible people, especially children, in public insurance programs.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.