Last week, Georgia health advocates, service providers, and enrollment assisters combined forces for a day of learning, sharing, and planning at our second annual Getting Georgia Covered summit. In conjunction with the event, Georgians for a Future released a new publication focusing on key themes in consumer and assister experiences during the 2016 open enrollment period, best practices for outreach, enrollment, and reaching eligible Georgians who remain uninsured, and policy opportunities to increase enrollment, improve access to care, and address affordability issues. The report, Getting Georgia Covered: What We Can Learn From Consumer and Assister Experiences During the Third Open Enrollment Period, is intended to be a resource for health care stakeholders, advocates, and policymakers.

In addition to workshops that fostered collaboration between organizations and individuals working on behalf of health care consumers in different ways, we also featured presentations and remarks from Dr. Pamela Roshell, Region IV Director, US Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Bill Custer, Director of Center for Health Services Research and Associate Professor, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University, Heather Bates, Deputy Director, Enrollment Assister Network, Families USA and Sandy Anh, Associate Research Professor, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms. Jemea Dorsey, Chief Executive Officer for the Center for Black Women’s Wellness, and Sarah Sessons, Executive Director of the Insure Georgia Initiative of Community Health Works also offered their expertise and insights in a closing panel. In the coming weeks, we will release a publication highlighting promising opportunities to improve consumer health through collaboration, drawing on the discussions and ideas that came out of the workshops and discussions.

Who doesn’t love to get mail? A hand-written note from a friend? An invitation to a wedding or surprise birthday party? A post-card from a family member enjoying their vacation in an exotic locale? Getting personal mail is not something that happens much this day and age, but still holds a lot of meaning to most people. If someone took the time to write you a letter to ask you to do something, wouldn’t that get your attention more than email? Now imagine that you got multiple letters asking you to do something from your friends, family members, and neighbors. That’s exactly what happened for a majority of Georgia’s state Senate and House members.

In July, Georgians for a Healthy Future mailed out stacks of post-cards to Georgia’s state legislators. These were not any post-cards. These were the postcards that GHF, with the help of the Cover Georgia Coalition, had been collecting over the past few years asking legislators to close the coverage gap. These postcards were signed by Georgians all across the state and were collected through outreach events, online petitions, and even Facebook ads. We collected more than 1100 postcards and sent them to legislators in every corner of the state. Many postcards included handwritten notes to their legislator asking them to close the coverage gap to help themselves, their family members, and fellow Georgians.

It’s not often that constituents are able to feel like they can directly communicate with their elected officials and this postcard project was intended to help give everyday people a voice for a topic that was important to them. More than 300,000 Georgians fall into the coverage gap and are unable to get affordable health insurance. Often these Georgians go without coverage and regular medical care. Many Georgians want to fix this issue and took the time to let their legislators know that they support closing the coverage gap.  These postcards will have an impact as state legislators hear from their constituents that they want all Georgians have access to quality, affordable health insurance.

We will continue collecting postcards and sending them to legislators as we get them. If you haven’t signed a postcard yet, you can still do so by signing our online petition.

2016 Linda Smith Lowe Health Advocacy Award: Tim Sweeney, Former Deputy Director & Health Policy Analyst Georgia Budget and Policy Institute

2016 Community Impact Award: Carole Maddux, Executive Director & CEO, Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center

For more than ten years, Tim Sweeney set the standard for reliable and responsible health policy analysis in Georgia. His insights and analysis equipped Georgia’s health advocacy community with the information needed to be a strong voice for consumers. He dissected the state budget each year, decoding line items and formulas. Tim read studies and briefed us on their findings, helping us all connect the dots between data and the health care stories of individuals, families, and communities across our state. While we know he will continue to achieve great things throughout his career, the people of Oregon will now benefit from his expertise and commitment. For his decade of service in Georgia, we are proud to honor Tim with the Linda Smith Lowe Health Advocacy Award.

Carole Maddux lives and breathes health care access through her work leading Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center in Pickens County. Under her leadership, Good Samaritan has recently transitioned to a federally qualified health center, is undergoing an expansion to better meet the community need, and is engaged in a local partnership to foster better collaboration locally. Carole also provides a clear, moral voice for systemic change in health care, speaking out on behalf of Medicaid expansion and other public policies that would expand coverage and increase access to care for all Georgians. For her leadership, commitment, and impact, we are proud to honor Carole with the Community Impact Award.

We hope you’ll join us on September 28th as we recognize Tim and Carole! RSVP

Health Hero 

Bristol-Myers Squibb

Health Champion 

Harry Heiman & Abby Friedman
Piedmont Healthcare

Health Guardian 

AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Cindy Zeldin & Doug Busk
Easter Seals Southern Georgia
Georgia Association for Primary Health Care

Health Defender

2016 POWERHOUSE POLICYMAKER AWARDEES

Representative Stacey Abrams
Senator P.K. Martin

Please join us on September 28th as we recognize our 2016 Powerhouse Policymakers.

Representative Stacey Abrams, House Minority Leader

As House Minority Leader, Stacey Abrams leads her caucus in its efforts to enact legislation across a range of complex public policy issues. Despite a full plate, Leader Abrams always makes time for health care. Whether it is raising awareness with constituents about new health insurance opportunities available to them or tirelessly championing the need to close Georgia’s coverage gap by expanding Medicaid, leader Abrams has proven over and over again her determination to ensure every Georgian has a pathway to health coverage. For this steadfast commitment, we are honored to recognize her as a 2016 Powerhouse Policymaker.

Senator P.K. Martin, Senate Insurance Committee

Although only in his second legislative session, Sen. Martin is not one to back down from a challenge and isn’t afraid to take on complicated issues. Improving provider directory accuracy was one such topic. SB 302 is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that sets basic standards for directories and protections for consumers who rely on them. The bill has been recognized nationally as an important example of consumer protections. Sen. Martin has shown that he is someone who will fight for what he believes in and we are proud to recognize him as a 2016 Powerhouse Policymaker.

We hope you’ll join us on September 28th as we recognize Sen. Martin and Rep. Abrams! RSVP Here.

Congratulations to all awardees!

We hope you’ll join us on September 28th to celebrate these health champions! Read more about our award recipients here. Sponsorship opportunities are available.

Two of the nation’s largest health insurance companies announced proposed mergers last year that would drastically change the health insurance market in Georgia.

In this report, Georgians for a Healthy Future summarizes current insurance market concentration in Georgia, outlines the impact of mergers on premiums and access to health care providers, explains the role of regulators in approving mergers and Georgia’s review process, and provides policy recommendations to protect consumers.

Next week, public hearings will be held on the proposed Aetna-Humana insurance merger. GHF’s health policy analyst Meredith Gonsahn will provide testimony. If you are interested in attending,more details are available and if you have any questions about GHF’s public comments, please reach out to Meredith.

GO TO REPORT

Georgia’s many summer festivals provide a unique opportunity for Georgians for a Healthy Future and our partners to get out in the community and talk with people about how health policy impacts their lives and how they can be advocates. On June 11^th and 12^th, we continued our summer festival outreach with an information & education booth at the Peachtree Corners Festival in Peachtree Corners. Our primary focus out in the community has been coverage gap education, but we also talked to attendees about our other priorities, including  health insurance enrollment and youth substance use prevention. We also asked attendees who stopped by the table to sign postcards to show their legislators that they support closing the gap.

In addition to outreach, we collected stories of several Georgians who fall into the gap. One grandmother in her early 60s told us that she is taking care of her grandkids full-time and crossing her fingers that she doesn’t get sick before she becomes eligible for Medicare. All of the people that we spoke to that fell into the gap knew they were in the gap and why it exists, but were hopeful that Georgia’s lawmakers would do something soon to fix the problem.

The Cover Georgia coalition was well represented at the festival as well, and we want to give a special thanks to Feminist Women’s Health Center, Georgia Watch, and Hemophilia of Georgia for volunteering with us. If you’re interested in volunteering with us at upcoming festivals, please reach out to Whitney or Laura.

It’s been an exciting few weeks for Close the Gap advocates. We are pleased to see that several of Georgia’s leaders  have expressed to the press that they are willing to take a second look at closing Georgia’s coverage gap. By closing the gap, they would help not only hard-working Georgians but also struggling rural hospitals and the communities that rely on them. We hope to work with our state leaders in the coming months to build further support and to find a solution that works for all Georgians. Below you’ll find links to articles covering the conversation happening at the Gold Dome.

Op-Ed: The irrefutable logic of Medicaid expansion for Ga.
AJC | June 22

Louisiana’s expanding Medicaid, and Georgia should too
Flagpole | June 22

Task force aims to reshape Georgia stance on health coverage
Georgia Health News | June 21

Will Louisiana’s Medicaid expansion provide a model for other states?
Georgia Health News | June 20

Why A Ga. GOP chair wants to ‘re-examine’ Medicaid expansion
WABE | June 15

Medicaid expansion remains divisive for Georgia Republicans
Associated Press | June 11

HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED

Email your legislator and tell them you support closing the coverage gap!

Did you know that you can find and email your legislators right from the GHF website? Just enter your address and we’ll find your state representative and senator! Send them a brief email telling them that the time has come for our legislature to come together to close Georgia’s coverage gap! Send your email here.

Need more resources on the coverage gap?

These resources will help you understand what the coverage gap is and what it means for you and the state.

Medicaid Chart Book

Georgia Left Me Out

Does your organization support closing the coverage gap?

Your organization can show its support by joining the Cover Georgia coalition. Email our Director of Outreach & Partnerships Laura Colbert for more information.

Georgians for a Healthy Future was excited to meet and engage colleagues in rich discussions around policy, grassroots organizing and coalition-building to make prevention counseling more widely available for young people. This June, we joined advocates from other states in Philadelphia for the Community Catalyst Substance Use Disorders Advocacy Convening. The three-day conference gave us valuable insight for the next phase of our advocacy and policy efforts to expand the use of Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) through the activation of Medicaid codes for youth. Activating Medicaid codes would allow providers to be reimbursed for the time they spend conducting SBIRT and would encourage greater use of the tool.

Over the past three years, in partnership with the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, GHF has advocated for turning on SBIRT codes and raised up youth substance use disorders as a critical public health issue that can no longer be overlooked in Georgia. We will publish a white paper on the potential benefits for turning on the Medicaid codes for youth SBIRT services in Georgia in the coming months. Check out our website to find out more about our Somebody Finally Asked Me campaign, additional resources on youth substance use prevention, and how you can get involved.

Ebenezer Baptist Church is a cornerstone of advocacy and social justice in Atlanta. On June 20^th, Laura Colbert, Director of Outreach & Partnerships, was invited to join their Women’s Season celebrations to talk about the importance of closing Georgia’s coverage gap. She spoke to a crowd of about 60 women on a day when the theme was health and self-care.

In keeping with the theme, Laura discussed how the women and parents in Georgia’s coverage gap are often unable to access health care so that they can better care for themselves and their families. She also highlighted the connection between health care coverage and better financial health—an important consideration for the low-income Georgians stuck in the coverage gap. Finally, she highlighted that parents who have health care coverage are more likely to keep their kids covered too.

At the end of Laura’s time, Ebeneezer women signed coverage gap postcards to let their legislators know that they support closing the coverage gap. If you haven’t done the same yet, click here to raise your voice and let your legislators know that this is an important issue that you want addressed.