Wednesday, November 22, 2000
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Wednesday, November 22, 2000 |
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Fayette County resident honored for helping bring health insurance coverage to children, adults
A Fayette County resident has received an award for helping bring health insurance coverage to uninsured children and provide medical services to low-income adults. Tandra Hodges, who lives in Peachtree City, was selected as the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration employee of the month for September by HCFA administrator Nancy-Ann DeParle. A five-year employee, Hodges is a health insurance specialist for HCFA, the agency that administers Medicaid and Medicare. Hodges is one of about 200 employees in HCFA's Atlanta regional office. Hodges was honored for her outstanding work with the eight-state region on the State Children's Health Insurance Program, and her efforts to enroll more eligible beneficiaries in the Medicaid program and provide additional medical services to the beneficiaries. Medicaid, a joint federal-state health insurance program, provides medical help for categories of low-income and needy people. Each state operates its own Medicaid program and receives federal matching funds. "Tandra Hodges has shown exceptional leadership skills in working with the eight Southeastern states on the SCHIP program to ensure that eligible children receive health insurance coverage," DeParle said. "She also has helped develop comprehensive plans for increasing enrollment of beneficiaries in Medicaid." "We are proud of Tandra and her outstanding efforts to assist beneficiaries," said Rose Crum-Johnson, HCFA regional administrator in Atlanta. "Her strong commitment to customer service has been invaluable to the agency." SCHIP is the largest single expansion of health insurance coverage for children in more than 30 years. Today, nearly 1.1 million American children one in seven are uninsured. The program was designed to reach these children, many of whom come from working families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid but too low to afford private health insurance. This initiative, created by the bipartisan Balanced Budget Act of 1997, set aside $24 billion over five years for states to provide new health care coverage for millions of children the largest children's health care investment since the creation of Medicaid in 1965. States are able to use part of their federal funds to expand outreach and ensure that all children eligible for Medicaid and SCHIP are enrolled. A Pensacola, Fla. native, Hodges graduated in 1983 from Pensacola High School. She graduated magna cum laude with an associate of science degree in business administration in May 2000 from Georgia Military College in Milledgeville. |