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Action Alert—Stop HB 707!

House Bill 707 would prohibit the state of Georgia from leveraging federal dollars to cover the uninsured and from providing consumer assistance to Georgians enrolling in health insurance. HB 707 was designed and promoted by the tea party to prevent hard-working Georgians from accessing health care, and it is in danger of becoming law in Georgia. We need your voice! Georgia citizens deserve better than to have the door slammed in their face when they seek out information about how to cover themselves and their family. Our state’s struggling hospitals and uninsured citizens deserve an honest policy discussion about Medicaid expansion, not a gag order on state and local employees. Call Lt. Governor Casey Cagle at 404-656-5030 and your state senator (locate your state senator here) and ask them to oppose HB 707.

House Bill 707 would:

1. Prohibit any state agency, department or political subdivision from using resources or spending funds to advocate for the expansion of Medicaid. This would stifle conversation and analysis about how to leverage federal dollars from covering the state’s uninsured.

2. Prohibit the state of Georgia from running an insurance exchange or accepting federal dollars related to an exchange. This broad language could stop quality local programs that provide assistance to vulnerable Georgians getting coverage through the exchange.

3. End the University of Georgia Health Navigator Program. Currently, the University of Georgia is providing enrollment assistance to consumers seeking out health insurance with federal grant money. HB 707 would prohibit UGA from sitting down with uninsured consumers and helping them enroll in a private health insurance plan.

4. Prohibit the Commissioner of Insurance from investigating or enforcing any alleged violation of federal health insurance requirements mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Under HB 707, if a consumer has been treated unfairly by their health insurance company, they may have no state recourse.

HB 707 has already passed the state House of Representatives and may be up for a vote in the State Senate early next week. We need your voice to prevent this harmful bill from becoming law!

Join members of the Cover Georgia coalition at the Capitol on Tuesday March 11 in advocating for expanded access to coverage for over 500,000 by expanding Medicaid.

Georgia has the opportunity to expand Medicaid to hundreds of thousands of working adults who make less than $11,670 a year. Money has already been set aside at the federal level to cover 100% of the cost of this expansion for the first three years and 90% in future years. Expanding Medicaid would create 56,000 new jobs in Georgia and would generate $6.5 billion per year in economic activity.

Don’t let Georgia’s hard-earned tax dollars go to other states. Medicaid expansion is a bargain that Georgians can’t afford to pass up. Let your legislators know that you want them to put people before politics! Join us at the Capitol!

Here’s the day’s agenda:

9:00am to 10:00am Advocacy training–Room 515 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building (18 Capitol Square SW, Atlanta, GA, 30334)

10:00am to 11:00am Rally on the steps of the Capitol (Washington Street)

11:00am to 12:00pm Talk with legislators

12:00pm to 12:30pm De-brief–Room 515 Coverdell Legislative Office Building

Register here so we can get a proper head count. Thanks!

Thanks to Carolyn Ingram from the Center for Health Care Strategies for serving as the keynote speaker for Georgians for a Healthy Future’s 4th annual Health Care Unscrambled policy breakfast event! Carolyn’s presentation described opportunities for flexibility with respect to the Medicaid program and provided illuminating examples from a handful of states taking innovative approaches. Carolyn’s presentation is available here.

The following opinion piece by Georgians for a Healthy Future’s Executive Director Cindy Zeldin originally appeared in today’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Large majorities of young adults say they need and value health insurance, yet people in this age group are far more likely to be uninsured than children, seniors or older adults. Thirty-five percent of Georgians between 18 and 34 are uninsured. How can something so important be so elusive?

Until now, the health insurance of millenials had largely been neglected by public policy, leaving them with few options that provided adequate benefits at an affordable cost.

Most Americans get health insurance as a workplace benefit. They get a substantial employer contribution and receive these benefits on a pre-tax basis. Today’s young adults, however, are entering the job market in a tough economy. They are less likely to land jobs with health insurance. They often cobble together internships and part-time work to gain experience and make ends meet. For too many young adults, there simply has been no viable pathway to coverage.

The tide is turning. An estimated 3.1 million young adults nationwide — and 123,000 here in Georgia — have gained coverage as a direct result of an Affordable Care Act provision that allows parents to keep their children on policies up to age 26. This popular and effective public policy change was just a first step. The new health insurance exchanges will provide options for young adults who previously had nowhere to go.

These plans provide decent benefits and, in many cases, access to tax credits to make them affordable. The tax credits, available to individuals with annual incomes between $11,490 and $45,960, can be taken either at the time health insurance is purchased or at tax time. Some moderate-income individuals also can get help with out-of-pocket expenses.

For millenials who had been underwhelmed with the health insurance options available to them in the past, this is a breath of fresh air. For example, maternity coverage had been nearly impossible to secure in the Georgia non-group market for young couples ready to start a family. Now, this important benefit will be available.

While it is true some young adults enrolled in old plans may see higher premiums, many of those old plans didn’t provide adequate protection. Further, young adults who had a pre-existing chronic helath condition were locked out of the market entirely, a practice insurance companies must discontinue.

 The private insurance plans available through the exchanges won’t meet the needs of all young adults in Georgia. Those who have incomes that place them below the poverty line will likely remain uninsured unless Georgia expands its Medicaid program.

Most young adults want what Americans of all ages want: the peace of mind that comes with knowing that an unexpected cancer diagnosis or accident doesn’t equal financial ruin, and that they have access to basic medical services. The new coverage options are finally leveling the playing field for this generation. It’s about time.

This year’s Health Care Unscrambled will feature a lively discussion with five Georgia policymakers: State Representatives Pat Gardner (D-District 57), Buzz Brockway (R-District 102), and Karen Bennett (D-District 94); State Senator Chuck Hufstetler (R-District 52), and Trey Sivley of the Georgia Department of Insurance. Please bring your health policy questions and don’t forget to register for what has become an annual legislative tradition for Georgia’s health advocacy community!

With the changing healthcare landscape, there are new words and phrases that the average consumer is unfamiliar with. Navigators….Certified application counselors (CACs)….and even Marketplace.  As consumers try to gather as much information as they can to make informed health care decisions, Georgians for a Healthy Future will continue to demystify the changes and provide you the information you need to make the right decision for you and your family. (more…)

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, Georgia’s Health Insurance Marketplace opened for business–www.healthcare.gov.  So, what’s next? Six months during which uninsured Georgians can learn about their health care options and take advantage of new programs to help them access affordable coverage, often for the first time.  Open enrollment runs from October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 and during this period the work of outreach and education to communities across our state  will never be more important. (more…)

By Em Elliott, Jeff Graham, and Amanda Ptashkin 

Georgia Equality and Georgians for a Healthy Future have been working together within the larger Cover Georgia coalition to educate and advocate on the issue of Medicaid in Georgia. Under the Affordable Care Act, states have the option to create a new category of eligibility for Medicaid to cover low-income individuals and families, financed almost entirely with federal dollars. Implementing this expansion is the only viable way to cover Georgia’s low-income uninsured, and it will pump resources into our state’s healthcare delivery system. Many other states are also advocating for expansion and Community Catalyst, a national health care reform advocacy organization, came to us with some questions around advocacy, lessons on collaborative partnerships, and the way this issue effects the LGBTQ community.

(more…)

Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) awarded health insurance navigator grants to 105 organizations in states with federally facilitated or partnership exchanges to conduct outreach and facilitate enrollment into qualified health plans when open enrollment begins in October. Georgians for a Healthy Future is excited to announce that we are part of a consortium of 15 partners, led by Seedco, a national non-profit organization that advances economic opportunity for people, businesses, and communities in need, that received one of two grants awarded for Georgia. We look forward to playing an active role in connecting Georgia consumers to the new health care coverage opportunities available to them.

Georgians for a Healthy Future will support the consortium’s success by drawing upon our strengths as a consumer health care advocacy leader, experience building and managing coalitions, and knowledge of the Affordable Care Act. In particular, we will work to ensure that the consortium’s activities are coordinated with a wide array of organizations in Georgia that share the goal of maximizing health insurance enrollment in our state. Through our Connecting Georgians to Coverage initiative, we have already held several webinars and meetings for organizations planning to participate in outreach and enrollment in Georgia. To learn more about our work to date in this area, click here. If your organization is planning to engage in outreach and enrollment, either as a navigator, certified application counselor organization, or champion for coverage and if you would like to coordinate your efforts with ours, please email Amanda Ptashkin at aptashkin@healthyfuturega.org.

Here is a full list of our navigator consortium members who will work collaboratively with Seedco and with other organizations and stakeholders to connect Georgia’s uninsured to health care coverage:

• Boat People SOS
• Center for Black Women’s Wellness
• Emory-Grady Urban Health Initiative
• Georgia Equality & The Health Initiative
• Georgia Refugee Health and Mental Health
• Georgia Watch
• Georgians for a Healthy Future
• Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia
• Jewish Family & Career Services
• Latin American Association
• Mental Health America of Georgia
• Parent to Parent
• Quality Med-Care Inc.
• Spring Creek Health Cooperative

We look forward to working with Seedco and this strong and diverse coalition over the next year!