Families. Healthy Choices. Healthy. In This Issue. Community Health Choice Newsletter V1 2010

Transcription

1 Healthy Choices Community Health Choice Newsletter V Healthy Families In This Issue Texas Health Steps and Children s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Checkups...2 CHC How To: Make Memories with your Family...3 Member Events! H1N1 Flu...4 Asthma...5 Introducing TexHealth Harris County 3-Share Program...5 Teen Talk: Indoor Exercise...6 Kids Club: Picture-Find Puzzle...7 Join CHC s Member Advisory Committee. 8 Important Phone Numbers...8 std. presort us postage paid permit #11439 houston, texas Community Health Choice, Inc S. Loop West, Suite 700 Houston, Texas CHC_MNL_0110

2 Texas Health Steps and Children s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Checkups Checkups are the best way to help your children stay healthy as they grow. STAR Members receive Texas Health Steps checkups. Community Health Choice (CHC) CHIP Members receive Well-Child checkups. When your child joins CHC, we will send you a reminder to take your child for a Texas Health Steps/Well-Child checkup. We will also send a reminder before the next checkup is due. When it is time for your child s checkup, call your primary care provider. A primary care provider can be a doctor or clinic that gives you most of your healthcare. Bring these things with you: CHC CHIP or STAR Member ID card and your Medicaid 3087 STAR form All medicines that your child is taking A list of your child s allergies Vaccination records Toys and snacks Answer all questions as best as you can. Doctors need this information to make the best choices for your child s good health. Ask anything that you want to know. Are you a migrant farm worker? If you are a farm worker or seasonal worker, and you move with your work, you may be a migrant farm worker. Do your children travel outside of Texas with you because you are a farm worker or seasonal worker? Migrant farm workers and their families receive quick access to healthcare. Please call Member Services at or After the Texas Health Steps/Well-Child checkup, the doctor will send a claim to CHC. Once we receive it, you will receive a gift. Checkup dates (in age) 4 Check off after each checkup! Checkup dates (in age) 3 5 days 8 years 2 weeks 9 years 2 months 10 years 4 months 11 years* 6 months 12 years* 9 months 13 years* 12 months 14 years* 15 months 15 years* 18 months 16 years* 2 years 17 years* 2½ years (30 months) 18 years* 3 years 19 years* 4 years 20 years* 5 years 6 years 7 years 4 Check off after each checkup! * CHC covers yearly checkups for STAR Members through 20 years of age and CHIP Members up to age 19. If you have any questions, please call Member Services at or toll-free at

3 CHC How-To: Make Memories with your Family Do you spend your family time watching television? Try something different! Use family time to make memories that your children will enjoy now, look back on with love when they are older and recreate with their own families. Here are some fun memory-making family activities: Create scrapbooks. Don t buy expensive scrapbooking materials; use school folders, construction paper, family pictures and your imagination. Write short stories as a family to include with every picture. Start a weekly game night. Choose games that the whole family can play together, like board games, card games, dominoes, Chinese checkers and puzzles. Choose a topic (any topic!) and discuss it as a family. Explore the topic s 5-Ws who, what, when, where and why. Listen respectfully as everyone shares their opinion. Topic discussions will give your children the confidence to express their views. And you will learn how your children think and what matters to them. Spend family time connecting with your children. Make memories that will last a lifetime. Send your family-time story to CHC and it may appear in the next newsletter! Community Health Choice, Inc. Member Services/CHC Healthy Stories 2636 S. Loop West, Ste. 700 Houston, Texas Member Events CHC has lots of fun events for our Members! Member events are our way of thanking you for choosing CHC. We had a great time at the Winter Holiday at Space Center Houston, and we will have a lot of fun events coming up in Check the Web site often and watch your mail for invitations. Member Events are always free for Members and low cost for families and friends! Call the CHC Event line to suggest events: or toll-free Has your address changed? Please call Member Services at or toll-free at when your address changes. We need your current or updated address so that we can invite you to our Member events and send you our newsletter and health flyers. CHC wants you to keep in touch! 3

4 2009 H1N1 Flu What is 2009 H1N1 (swine flu)? 2009 H1N1 (sometimes called swine flu ) is a new influenza (flu) virus. How does 2009 H1N1 virus spread? The 2009 H1N1 virus is spread like any other flu. Flu viruses are spread mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with the flu. Sometimes people may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. When should I call my primary care provider? Call your primary care provider if your child has any of these symptoms: Fast breathing or trouble breathing Bluish skin color Not drinking enough fluids Not waking up or not interacting Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough Fever with a rash Call your primary care provider if you have any of these symptoms: Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen Sudden dizziness Confusion Severe or persistent vomiting Who is at high-risk for the 2009 H1N1 flu virus? People at high-risk for 2009 H1N1 are children, pregnant women, and people who are already sick with illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, asthma and kidney disease. Houston Northwest Medical Center is now accepting STAR, CHIP and CHIP Perinate Members! It is located at 710 FM 1960 West, Houston, TX How long can an infected person spread this virus to others? People with the 2009 H1N1 flu can give it to others from 1 day before getting sick to 5 to 7 days after. Is there a 2009 H1N1 vaccine? Yes! There is a regular flu vaccine and a 2009 H1N1 vaccine. A flu vaccine is the first and most important step in protecting against flu infection. Call your primary care provider to get both vaccines. How can I keep from getting sick? Cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze. Cough or sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands. Wash your hands often with soap and water or use hand sanitizer. Try to avoid close contact with sick people. If you are sick with flu-like illness, stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone without medicine. Read more about 2009 H1N1 on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site: 4

5 Asthma Asthma is a serious breathing problem. Your chest becomes tight and you cannot breathe easily. Bad fits of asthma are called asthma attacks. They can be caused by pet hair, dust or other allergens. High temperatures and high humidity, like we have here in Texas, can also trigger asthma attacks. CHC can teach you how to feel better with asthma! A Disease Management case manager will teach you about asthma, refer you to doctors who treat asthma, and help you receive any medicine and machines that you might need. Your case manager will also call you regularly to see how you are doing and answer your questions. If you think you may have asthma, go see your primary care provider. If you do have asthma, call one of our Disease Management case managers at Did you know The flu can make your asthma even worse! A flu shot may help keep your asthma under control and also keep you from having really bad attacks. Make an appointment with your primary care provider today! Before you go to the Emergency Room CHC wants you and your family to go to the emergency room only in the case of a true emergency. That s why we offer so many healthcare choices: a 24-hour Nurse Help Line to answer your questions a large network of primary care providers, pediatricians and urgent-care clinics that are open after hours and on the weekends Illnesses like sore throats and earaches are usually not an emergency. Call your primary care provider and decide together if you need to go to the emergency room. Introducing TexHealth Harris County 3-Share Program! CHC is proud to partner with the Harris County Healthcare Alliance (HCHA) to offer the TexHealth Harris County 3-Share Program. The program is an affordable health plan for small businesses (2 50 employees). The cost is shared among employers and their employees and is subsidized by one or more sources of local, state, federal or private funding. If you think that your employer may qualify, ask them to call TexHealth Harris County at for more information. 5

6 Teen Talk: Indoor Exercise Is the winter weather keeping you from being active outdoors? Don t let that stop you; get moving indoors! Play sports and dance video games. Rent your favorite games from your local video rental store, or buy used games or trade-in your old video games for new ones. They are fun and you don t need a lot of space to play them. Have your very own dance party! Make a CD of minutes of high-energy music that you love and dance yourself into shape! Check out exercise videos designed for kids and teens at your local public library. Use inexpensive exercise equipment like a step bench and dumbbells. Do any outdoor exercises that you can indoors. Hula hooping, jumping rope and jumping jacks will burn calories. Push-ups, stomach crunches will strengthen your muscles. Stretching exercises will improve your flexibility. Just make sure you ve got enough space and don t damage any of your parents furniture. Cleaning your room or helping clean your home can keep you in shape while making your parents happy at the same time. Check out for more tips and health information Walk around the mall with your friends. You can exercise and window shop at the same time! CHC cares about your health and wants you to stay fit and active this winter! 6

7 KIDS CLUB Spot 10 differences in these two pictures. Answer: b1, c2, e2, c3, a5, a6, d7, c8, a9, e10 7

8 Join CHC s Member Advisory Committee CHC wants to hear from you! Join our Member Advisory Committee. As a committee Member, you will suggest Member events, tell us about your health plan experiences and share your concerns. Be a voice of the CHC community. If you are thinking it, chances are that other Members are, too. The committee meets once every three months for about two hours during lunch time. And, lunch is on us! If you would like to be on the CHC Member Advisory Committee, call or toll-free Join the Member Advisory Committee today! Important Phone Numbers Information about CHC and Member Events or CHC Member Services or Member Events RSVP or TDD Number for Hearing-Impaired Hour Nurse Help Line Behavioral Health/Substance Abuse (APS) STAR Program Help Line STARDENT Dental Services (Members over 21) CHIP/CHIP Perinatal Program Help Line CHIP Dental CHIP Pharmacy Hotline Texas Health Steps Program (Members under 21) Block Vision (Eye Care) Do you need a Provider Directory or Member Handbook? Read them on our Web site at or call Member Services at or