Peach Pulse, November 2015

POLICY UPDATES

Network Adequacy – We Have a Model Act!

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners approved an updated network adequacy model act at its Fall meeting in November. The model act is a framework that states can adopt to help ensure that consumers have meaningful and timely access to the health services in their benefit package. With more insurance companies offering narrow network plans, these basic standards are an important consumer protection, and GHF encourages state policymakers to consider tailoring and adopting the model act in Georgia. We’ll be announcing our legislative priorities for 2016 soon, and this issue will be on the list!

Study Committees Conclude Their Work

Several health-related study committees met during the summer and fall months, and most of them are wrapping up their work. The Consumer and Provider Protection Act Study Committee held its final open meeting in November with a focus on network adequacy and provider directories. Claire McAndrew from Families USA, a national consumer health advocacy organization, and Georgians for a Healthy Future’s Health Policy Analyst Meredith Gonsahn delivered testimony on the importance of setting network adequacy standards and ensuring provider directory accuracy and usability. Look out for a final report from the committee in December!

Read Meredith’s Testimony

Read Claire’s Testimony

Concerns Grow about Proposed Mergers

Earlier this year, two separate proposed health insurance mergers were announced. A November New York Times article laid out some of the concerns that consumer advocates have about the proposed mergers and featured comments from Cindy Zeldin, Georgians for a Healthy Future’s Executive Director. Our Health Policy Analyst Meredith Gonsahn is monitoring this important issue – be on the lookout for a policy brief in the new year that provides more detailed insights about the potential effects of these mergers. You can also learn more by visiting the Coalition to Protect Patient Choice.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Health Care Unscrambled 2016

Please save the date for the morning of January 14th for our annual Health Care Unscrambled policy breakfast. The breakfast will feature a bipartisan panel of legislators who will preview the health care issues they plan to focus on during the legislative session, a keynote panel discussion about emerging health policy issues, and opportunities to network with fellow health advocates. Registration is now open!

RSVP!

Sponsorship Opportunities

GHF IN THE COMMUNITY

Coverage and Access to Care: Local Focus on Savannah

Georgians for a Healthy Future hit the road again recently, this time to Savannah! We collaborated with the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute and the Chatham County Safety Net Planning Council to pull together a local roundtable discussion with individuals and organizations serving the local community. We learned so much about the coverage and access challenges facing individuals and families in Savannah.

Read Laura’s Blog

GHF in North Fulton

North Fulton Community Charities, a non-profit human service agency that assists families in need in North Fulton County, invited Georgians for a Healthy Future to present our Medicaid chart book to its community leaders. Board members, city and county council people, and state legislators were in attendance, along with interested community members. We had a constructive conversation with participants about how Georgia can close the coverage gap. If your organization, church, or community group would like us to present at your next meeting (either about closing the coverage gap or about helping people enroll in health insurance), contact Laura.

PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE IN SPANISH

Get Insured. Stay Insured.

This toolkit is designed to walk people through each step of the enrollment process, from how to select the right plan for them, to how to find a doctor, and even things to keep in mind when filing taxes if they receive a subsidy. Hard copies of the Spanish toolkit are available, please email Whitney for more information.

Download Spanish Toolkit.

My Health Insurance User’s Manual

This workbook is a take-home, interactive resource for the newly enrolled. People can fill in the workbook with their own information so they have all of their important health coverage information in one place. If your organization is interested in obtaining hard copies of the workbook in Spanish, please contact Whitney.

Download Spanish Workbook.

Thank You!

In addition to November being a busy month full of community engagement, health insurance enrollment, and public policy advances, it was also a month for gratitude and reflection. This Thanksgiving, the 300,000 Georgians who fall into the coverage gap were in our thoughts. In the coming year, we plan to redouble our efforts to close the coverage gap in Georgia. Your contributions on Georgia Gives Day will support our advocacy campaign in 2016 to close this gap. The Georgians for a Healthy Future team thanks you for your support. And if you missed Georgia Gives Day, don’t worry – you can still give here.