Events
Upcoming Events
All Hands on Deck! An Evening with Georgians for a Healthy Future
The Georgians for a Healthy Future board of directors invites you to join us for an evening of camaraderie, conversation, and celebration as we gear up for the next big phase of health reform implementation: connecting hundreds of thousands of uninsured Georgians to coverage. Since our founding in 2008, Georgians for a Healthy Future has worked with all of you to provide a strong voice for Georgia’s health care consumers in the policy decisions that impact their lives. Please save the date for a reception and fundraiser on the evening of June 27th to celebrate our successes and prepare for the challenges ahead. Thanks to national health reform, consumers have more options than they have ever had before. But covering Georgia’s uninsured will take all of us, working in concert, to move our state forward. We need all hands on deck! Please join us for an entertaining evening of celebration and conversation about our collective strength and how Georgians for a Healthy Future will continue to work on behalf of all Georgians to help navigate the rough waters ahead.
When: June 27th, 6-8pm
Where: Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough
201 17th Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30363 (Atlantic Station)
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Host Committee Levels:
Captain ~ $1000 and up (6 tickets)
First Mate ~ $500 (4 tickets)
Cadet ~ $250 (2 tickets)
Please contact Cindy Zeldin to join the host committee or for more information about the event.
General tickets are $60.
To register, click here.
Previous Events
Selected Georgians for a Healthy Future Events: 2013
Cover Georgia Day at the Capitol
Georgians for a Healthy Future along with 100 advocates and Cover Georgia coalition partners spent the day at the Gold Dome on Tuesday, February 19th, 2013 to deliver a message: coverage matters. Health care consumers, advocates, providers and others gathered for a morning training on Medicaid expansion and then walked over to the Capitol to share the message with their elected officials. For pictures from the event, click here.
Health Care Unscrambled 2013
Georgians for a Healthy Future’s third annual Health Care Unscrambled policy breakfast event, held on January 10, 2013, featured a lively panel discussion with key Georgia policymakers including Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, State Representative Pat Gardner, and State Representative Sharon Cooper. We also heard insights from keynote speaker Jonathan Cohn, one of the nation’s preeminent health policy journalists, on health reform through a national lens. This annual event also brings together policymakers, stakeholders, and advocates just as the Legislative Session is getting underway and gives them the opportunity to connect with each other. Georgians for a Healthy Future also presented our 2013 legislative & policy agenda and publicly launched the Cover Georgia campaign in support of covering Georgia’s uninsured by expanding Medicaid in Georgia.
Selected Georgians for a Healthy Future Events: 2012
Capturing the Moment: An Evening with Georgians for a Healthy Future
Georgian
s for a Healthy Future held a reception and fundraiser on the terrace of the offices of Nelson Mullins in Atlantic Station on the evening of August 14th, 2012, to support our consumer health advocacy work at this critical moment in history. The recent Supreme Court decision upholding the Affordable Care Act was a major victory for health care consumers, but it was just a first step. We celebrated this win and charted the course ahead to ensure that health reform becomes a reality in Georgia.
Rally to Protect Our Health Care
Georgians for a Healthy Future rallied with HealthSTAT, Doctors for America, Votehealthcare.org and Know Your Care Georgia on the afternoon of March 26th, 2012 in a show of support for the progress that has been made for health care consumers and patients since the Affordable Care Act became law. Our speakers–doctors, patients, legislators, and advocates–shared the stories of Georgians who have been able to get coverage through the PCIP; young adults who are now on their parents’ insurance plans; and seniors who have received Medicare donut hole rebates, making their needed prescriptions more affordable. We also made the case for continuing state implementation of the ACA so that we can craft a Georgia solution to our health care problems and ensure that people have access to quality and affordable health care. At the conclusion of the rally, we delivered a petition to Governor Deal signed by several hundred Georgians who want to move forward with health reform in our state.
Kick Butts Day
Georgians for a Healthy Future rallied in coalition with the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids on March 21, 2012, at the state capitol in celebration of national Kick Butts Day and to call upon Georgia policymakers to increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1 (Bump it up a Buck!). By bumping up the per pack fee on cigarettes by $1, state leaders can help make the 10,600 kids in Georgia who start smoking each year stop before they start. And, leaders will have a chance to change the lives of the 10,500 Georgians who die each year from smoking-caused illnesses. Bumping it up a Buck will help save critical programs and services, save kids from addiction to tobacco, and encourage current smokers to quit. Georgians for a Healthy Future remains active in the Bump it up a Buck coalition and will continue to support a $1 increase in the state’s cigarette tax
Health Care Unscrambled 2012
Georgians for a Healthy Future’s second annual Health Care Unscrambled policy breakfast event, held on January 12, 2012, featured a panel of policymakers including Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens, Representatives Pat Gardner and Richard Smith, and Senators Renee Unterman and Nan Orrock. We heard from these key decision-makers about the issues on their radar, and we also got a report on the national landscape from Dr. Len Nichols, one of the nation’s most respected and influential health economists and health reform experts. The event was a unique opportunity for policymakers, stakeholders, academics, and advocates to come together to discuss Georgia’s health care challenges and opportunities just as the 2012 Legislative Session was getting underway. Georgians for a Healthy Future also presented our 2012 legislative & policy agenda and distributed our signature Consumer Health Advocates Guide to the Georgia Legislative Session at the event.
Selected Georgians for a Healthy Future Events: 2011
Building a Healthy Georgia
Throughout 2011, Georgians for a Healthy Future spearheaded a series of community events around the state of Georgia. The Building a Healthy Georgia series was a collaborative public education campaign led by Georgians for a Healthy Future and partner organizations Voices for Georgia’s Children, HealthSTAT, Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, AARP of Georgia and the Georgia Rural Health Association. The series of events fostered a dialogue with community leaders, medical providers, health care stakeholders, social services professionals, human services agencies, and individual consumers in several Georgia communities on the most important health care issues facing these communities; identified and drew attention to public policy initiatives at the local, state, and national levels that can address these issues; and developed a more cohesive statewide network of health care advocates. In an effort to address the various needs and issues of local communities and the vast array of topics surrounding health care in Georgia, each forum had a tailored focus (described below).
Building a Healthy Georgia: Widening the Safety Net and Ensuring Greater Access to Care
This forum, held on November 30, 2011 in Savannah, brought together medical professionals, safety-net providers, small business owners, and students to examine potential new options for people who currently are uninsured and utilize the health care safety net and how to empower communities to take up the cause and make upcoming changes to Georgia’s health care infrastructure work for consumers across the state. To view the power point presentations from the forum, click here.
Building a Healthy Georgia: The Impact of Health Care Reform on Central Georgia’s 50+ Community
This forum, held on November 15, 2011 in Macon and jointly hosted by Georgians for a Healthy Future and AARP of Georgia, explained what the health care law means for Central Georgia’s 50+ community and their families. To view the power point presentations from the forum, click here.
Building a Healthy Georgia: The Role of Future Public Health Professionals and Public Health Policy-making
This forum, held on September 30, 2011 in Athens, engaged students, professors, health care providers and the larger public health community in Athens and explained the role that public health has in our everyday lives and how critical it is to be actively engaged in its promotion in the future. It also explored the changing face of public health from a state, federal and local perspective and underscored the opportunities to guide its direction moving forward. To view the power point presentations from the forum, click here.
Building a Healthy Georgia: Workforce Development and the Value of Ensuring Access to Health Care
This forum, held on September 8, 2011 in Butler (Taylor County), centered around how the state is bolstering workforce development and how business owners, health care providers, community leaders and health care consumers can take advantage of upcoming opportunities to improve health care and access in Georgia.To view the power point presentations from the forum, click here.
Building a Healthy Georgia: Exploring Policies and Practices to Improve Children’s Access to Health Care Services
This forum, held on August 25, 2011 in Augusta, was a community conversation centered around the barriers that children in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) face when accessing vital health care services. The goal of this symposium was to catalyze an effort to advocate for policy and practice changes to remove existing access barriers and strengthen the overall health care delivery system for children in Georgia. To view the power point presentations from the forum, click here.
Georgians for a Healthy Future Cocktail Reception & Fundraiser
Georgians for a Healthy Future held a reception and fundraiser in March 2011 to support consumer health advocacy. Board Member Pat Nobbie emceed the event and Representatives Pat Gardner and Simone Bell spoke about health care legislation in the General Assembly, while Dean Phil Williams of the School of Public Health at the University of Georgia spoke about new legislation creating a standalone Department of Public Health in Georgia.
Selected Georgians for a Healthy Future Events: 2010
Health Care Unscrambled
Georgians for a Healthy Future held our first annual Health Care Unscrambled policy breakfast event on December 7, 2010 featuring a panel discussion with Alan Weil of the National Academy for State Health Policy; Anton Gunn, Regional Director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Dr. Phaedra Corso of the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia. We interviewed event participants to learn about their work, their interests, and what they hoped to learn during the event. Click below to watch the video!
Georgians for a Healthy Future also unveiled our 2011 legislative & policy agenda at the event, available here.
Care Beyond College: Dependent Care Coverage Explained
This roundtable discussion, held on September 23, 2010 at Emory University, raised awareness of important new health care consumer protections for young adults with a particular focus on the new option for young adults to remain on a parent’s health insurance plan until age 26. Participants included Dr. Michael Huey, Executive Director of Emory Student Health and Counseling Services; Amanda Ptashkin, Georgians for a Healthy Future’s Outreach & Advocacy Director; Joann Yoon, Associate Policy Director for Child Health at Voices for Georgia’s Children; Dr. Minesh Shah, Instructor, Emory University School of Medicine and Attending Physician, Grady Health System; and State Representative Pat Gardner.
Health Care: 2010 and Beyond
In August and Septe
mber of 2010, Georgians for a Healthy Future jointly hosted a series of educational forums with the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute, Voices for Georgia’s Children, and AARP. Forums were held in Athens, Rome, Butler, Tifton, Macon, and Savannah throughout the months of August and September 2010. The events brought together local community leaders, providers, and consumers for a lively set of conversations about upcoming changes in health care and what it all means for Georgia. All of the power point presentations from the series of events are posted in the Presentations section of the Georgians for a Healthy Future website.
Spotlight on Georgians with Diagnosed Pre-Existing Health Conditions
This conversation, h
osted by Georgians for a Healthy Future and held on May 27, 2010 at the American Cancer Society, featured testimonials from Georgia patients with chronic health conditions about the challenges they face navigating the health system and what health reform’s new consumer protections, including the provision that will no longer allow insurance companies to deny people for coverage because they have a pre-existing condition going into effect in 2014, will mean for them. The event also unveiled new data from a Families USA report that found that approximately 1.8 million Georgians under age 65 have a diagnosed pre-existing condition.
Georgians for a Healthy Future Cocktail Reception
Georgians for a Healthy Future held our first annual cocktail reception on February 23, 2010, to bring friends, partners, and fellow advocates together for an evening of fun in support of our health advocacy work.
Selected Georgians for a Healthy Future Events: 2009
Georgians for a Healthy Future Launch Event at the State Capitol
On October 22, 2009, Georgians for a Healthy Future was officially launched at an event at the State Capitol! The Board of Directors introduced GHF’s first Executive Director Cindy Zeldin and discussed our mission and vision for Georgia.
