With this week’s legislative update, we bring the Gold Dome to you! Our biggest update this week is that Senator Renee Unterman is making a $60 million appropriations ask in the state budget to maintain Medicaid payment parity. Medicaid payment parity is an effective strategy to increase access to health care services for low-income children and families enrolled in Medicaid (click here to learn more about what payment parity is and why it matters for health care access). Your GHF team was at the Capitol this week to talk with Senator Unterman about her proposal.

Also this week, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health held a hearing that included discussion about Medicaid payment parity. No decisions were made at the hearing but we expect the topic will come up again. What can advocates do?  Contact one or more of these legislators!

1. Call or email Senator Unterman and thank her for leading the charge on this important initiative!
2. Call or send an email to Senator Burke, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, and Representative Butch Parrish, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health, and thank them for their support on Medicaid payment parity.
3. Contact Senate Appropriations Chair Jack Hill and House Appropriations Chair Terry England and let them know you support Medicaid payment parity.

Other issues we’re watching.

Medicaid Expansion

There has been no action to date on closing the coverage gap by expanding Medicaid. Please contact your legislators and the leaders of the Health and Human Services and Appropriations Committees to ask them to hold hearings on this important issue.

Click here to let your state senator and representative know that you support closing Georgia’s coverage gap.

Tobacco Tax

Georgians for a Healthy Future and our coalition partners continue to support a $1.23/pack increase in Georgia’s tobacco tax to bring us in line with the national average, decrease smoking rates, and bring in needed revenue for health care investments in our state. All eyes in the House and Senate have been on the transportation funding proposal unveiled last week on the House side, which did not include an increase in the tobacco tax. However, the Senate is expected to take a more diversified approach in this area and the possibility of a tobacco tax increase may be on the table. We will continue to monitor this issue and will let you know when advocacy opportunities arise.

Other Health-Related Bills

Senate Bill 1, which would require insurance companies to provide limited autism benefits for Georgians enrolled in certain individual and small group plans passed the Senate and is now on the House side. A hearing has not been scheduled for the bill on the House side.

Senate Bill 74, which would authorize tax credits for donors to health charity organizations, has been introduced in the Senate and referred to the Senate Finance Committee.

Each year Georgians for a Healthy Future develops our signature A Consumer Health Advocate’s Guide to the Legislative Session, and the 2015 editions are in! Whether you are an individual interested in contacting your legislators to let them know you care about health care issues or if you work for an advocacy group and want to get multiple copies for your volunteers, we’re happy to get the guides into your hands. We create them each year to help you be a better advocate.

In this year’s guide, you will find:

• Detailed legislative process overview
• Listing of all representatives and senators, their offices and numbers
• Key contacts in the governor’s office and relevant agency staff
• Members of key committees and subcommittees
• Contact information for other health advocate organizations
• Media contacts
• Tips to make you an effective advocate

You can download a PDF version or contact Laura Colbert and arrange to pick up hard copies from GHF’s office.

With the New Year, GHF kicks of a new board.  Kathy Floyd has stepped into the position of board chair, taking the reins from Harry Heiman.  A board member of several years, we know she will bring strong leadership and vision to our growing organization.  We are also thankful for Harry’s incredible run and accomplishments as board chair during a period of growth for GHF. We are excited to welcome new board members Danté McKay, Jay Berkelhamer, Natalie Hernandez, and Monica Ponder!  Each brings substantial experience and expertise and we’re excited to have them as part of the GHF team.  As the same time, we are sad to see wonderful partners rolling off the board.  Julie Edelson, Marci Thomas, Jeffery Graham, Sylvia Caley, and Iris Feinberg have all finished their board terms and, while we will miss them, we hope they will enjoy their newfound free time!

This past Tuesday was Coverage Day at the Capitol! Laura Colbert, GHF’s Community Outreach Manager, spearheaded the day with the help of many Cover Georgia partner organizations.  The opportunity to talk with legislators about the coverage gap drew about 75 advocates and volunteers to the State Capitol. After an advocacy training session, the group met with their legislators throughout the morning by “working the ropes.”  The group reconvened for lunch and a press briefing, covered by both WABE and the Georgia Report! Members of the Cover Georgia coalition displayed their information, materials, and projects in the Capitol Rotunda throughout the afternoon. It was a full day of advocacy in support of closing Georgia’s coverage gap!  We’re hoping that Georgia’s legislators heard our message loud and clear – it’s time to start talking about closing Georgia’s coverage gap!

Georgia’s Medicaid patients could face longer wait times for doctor’s appointments without legislative action. That’s because a nation-wide bump in primary care provider reimbursement rates expired at the end of 2014, triggering a need for state action. This temporary rate bump resulted in an average eight percent increase in appointment availability, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study examined ten states, including Georgia, and concluded that payment rate increases are an effective strategy for enhancing access to primary care services. According to a participating physician in Texas, his practice was able to double the amount of Medicaid patients seen during the two year time the pay bump was in effect.  By restoring the rate bump, known as Medicaid payment parity, Georgia policymakers can help ensure patients get timely access to primary care in an appropriate setting and help keep patients from ending up in the emergency room.