Georgians for a Healthy Future’s Executive Director Cindy Zeldin participated as a featured guest at WABE’s A Nation Engaged community forum at the Carter Center in Atlanta on the evening of January 17th. The forum, an initiative of WABE’s A Closer Look radio show, featured a range of thought leaders, community activists, policy experts, and previous guests of the program. The conversation was wide-ranging and incorporated different views and perspectives. Georgians for a Healthy Future was honored to be invited and to be part of the lively event. You can see more details and listen to the entire special broadcast here.

Georgians for a Healthy Future will be at the Capitol throughout the forty-day session to monitor health-related legislation, serve as a voice for health care consumers, and keep you informed about opportunities to engage and take action. For the past four years, our top legislative priority had been closing Georgia’s coverage gap by expanding Medicaid. In the wake of the 2016 election, the national policy landscape has shifted considerably, knocking that off the table this year and placing existing coverage, care, and consumer protections at risk. Despite this backdrop of uncertainty and a critical need for federal advocacy, there will be important decisions made over the next three months at the state level that impact the health of individuals, families, and communities.

While it is early, here are the major health care issues we preliminarily expect legislators to tackle in 2017:

• Renewal of the provider fee commonly known as the “hospital tax” or “bed tax” to help fund Medicaid and keep hospital doors open
• Development of a set of reforms to improve mental health services based on the recommendations of a legislative study committee that has been meeting over the past several months
• Creation of a “repeal” task force to assess the impact of changes to or repeal of the Affordable Care Act on Georgia
• Addressing the practice of surprise medical billing, which can leave insured consumers with unexpected bills when a health care provider is out-of-network
• Increasing reimbursement rates for certain primary care services for health care providers participating in Medicaid
• Improving access to dental care for children, seniors, and people with disabilities

Georgians for a Healthy Future has several ways for you to stay up-to-date on what’s happening under the Gold Dome this year:

• Learn: Download our 2017 policy priorities, read up on how the legislative process works, and track health-related legislation
• Engage: Sign up for our Georgia Health Action Network (GHAN) action alerts
• Participate: Identify and contact your specific legislators on issues you care about

Stay tuned for updates throughout the session.

The President-Elect and Congressional leadership are already working to repeal the Affordable Care Act, but have not yet communicated what a replacement might be. Repealing the law without an adequate replacement would do great harm to consumers, destabilize Georgia’s health insurance market, and stress our health care delivery system. It´s important to take care of your health in every way possible, if you happen to have issues such as stress or depression, especially Teen Counseling, buy kratom a natural drug that fights these issues immediately as cannabis products which are found in a cannabis store, you can also check Afinil which will help you out as well, read also is CBD good for you. If you want to know our special health care you can visit healthyhempoil.com.
Approximately one million Georgians would lose their health insurance by 2019, bringing the number of uninsured in our state to a staggering 2.4 million people – more than before the ACA was passed. Millions more would lose their basic rights and protections as consumers, and access to care would be at risk. We could lose:

• Protections for people with pre-existing conditions from being charged more or from being barred from coverage. Pre-existing conditions include chronic diseases like diabetes, mental health conditions, asthma, cancer, and more

• Protections that keep women from being charged more than men

• Free preventive care

• The ability to keep young adults on their parent’s plan until age 26

• Financial protections that limit the amount of money consumers must pay out-of-pocket each year for care and that keep insurers from limiting lifetime benefits

• Anti-discrimination provisions that protect consumers based on sex, gender identity, language spoken, or country of origin

• Health insurance navigators who offer free, local, unbiased assistance to help people find the health care coverage that works best for them. It is nice to help people and care for them, encourage them physically, spiritually, and emotionally made by CDPAP services.

Recently released HHS numbers show that health insurance enrollment in Georgia and across the country is going strong. The Affordable Care Act is what has made these coverage gains possible, yet Congress has prioritized repealing this landmark legislation without clarifying what would replace it. We need your stories and your voice to ensure our policymakers understand the consequences of repealing the law. Please consider submitting your story, or the stories of the people that you serve, of how the ACA has benefited you. Whether it’s being able to afford coverage through the availability of tax credits, not being denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition, or being able to stay on a parent’s plan until age 26 – we need to hear from you!

We are proud to announce that GHF has been awarded a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. The Foundation works to connect the passions of philanthropists with the purposes of nonprofits. Awards were given through a highly competitive process and we are excited about this partnership as we continue to work to ensure quality, affordable health care for all Georgians. Read the Foundation’s press release.

This August, GHF invited both advocates and enrollment assisters to the second annual Getting Georgia Covered summit. Bringing these two groups together was the first step in fostering ongoing conversations and partnerships to ensure that health coverage translates into meaningful access to care for Georgians. Through the summit, GHF collected feedback and input for a report that highlights how assisters and advocates can team up for consumers. We invite you to read and share Collaborating for Consumers: How Assisters and Advocates Can Inform Policy, in which you will find opportunities and best practices for collaboration to achieve our shared goals.