Soros Advocacy Fellowship for Physicians

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Case Studies

Fellowship Parnering Organization: Citizens for Missouri's Children
Home Institution: Washington University School of Medicine

The project involved developing and ensuring the success of the Kid’s Can’t Wait campaign, a collaborative community organizing effort to make it easier for children to enroll in Medicaid in the state of Missouri.

Fellowship Successes

• Passed presumptive eligibility in the state of Missouri, a policy for income-eligible children to be immediately enrolled in the Medicaid program;
• Insured effective implementation policies and procedures for presumptive eligibility;
• Conducted “speak out” focus groups to listen to issues of uninsured and underinsured people, and created a written report using the input from 130 participants which was used by a regional health planning body in St. Louis;
• Worked to make sure that ConnectCare, a key safety-net resource for 80,000 people in the St. Louis area maintained its funding;
• Built significant relationships with health-care and community leaders.

Post-Fellowship Successes

• Secured funding for another year of advocacy work through a local foundation;
• Designed and will begin implementation of a two-week rotation for pediatric residents, called Pediatricians in Community;
• Sustained significant relationships with health-care and community leaders;
• Actively advocated for Medicaid eligibility and services with other committed community partners.