More than a year after the state launched the Pathways to Coverage program, offering Medicaid in exchange for work or other state-approved activities, advocates say the program is too difficult…
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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!
Last week, Georgians for a Healthy Future convened experts and advocates from a range of sectors including housing, criminal justice reform, education, and transportation for a discussion about social determinants and how we can break down silos to advance health. In conjunction with the convening, we released a new publication, Health Beyond Health Care: Opportunities to Advance Health by Addressing Social Determinants. This paper provides results from key informant interviews and a review of promising community-based and policy initiatives, highlights standout local examples of health in all policies approaches, and features state-level budget and policy recommendations to address the social determinants of health.
See event photos on our Facebook page.
Tuesday’s election results have the potential to dramatically shift the health care bill nationally and here in Georgia. It’s too soon to know precisely what policy changes will occur and what their impact will be, but advocacy at both the state and federal levels on behalf of Georgians who need access to quality, affordable health care has never been more important. The President-Elect and Congressional leadership have vowed to repeal the Affordable Care Act, landmark legislation that established a framework for coverage that has resulted in the lowest uninsured rate ever recorded, rights and protections for health care consumers, and provisions to advance health equity. Repeal is a serious threat and the consequences would be devastating: twenty million Americans and nearly 500,000 Georgians would lose their coverage, while millions more would be stripped of basic protections and face higher costs. Congressional leaders have also signaled their intention to make cuts to Medicaid and other critical health care programs, which would further threaten coverage and access to care for Georgia children and families. Georgians for a Healthy Future is committed to lifting up the voices of Georgians whose basic access to care hangs in the balance and ensuring these voices are heard and considered as policy decisions are made. www.bestblenderusa.com stated that, “We cannot return to the days when anyone with a pre-existing condition like cancer or diabetes can be denied coverage (if one can’t get insurance before cancer – can you imagine the obstacles of getting life insurance after cancer), where women can be charged more for health insurance simply because of their gender, and where LGBT Georgians can be discriminated against in health care.” We cannot allow the hundreds of thousands of Georgians who have finally experienced the sense of security that comes with health coverage to go back to being uninsured and out of options. In short, we plan to fight and we need your support and partnership. We ask you to partner with us in the coming weeks and months as our work enters this new phase. Here is what you can do:
Thank you for all that you do. |
New Publication
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.
Direct consumer support plays an important role in assisting consumers to enroll into and maintain their health coverage. Georgians for a Healthy Future, primarily a health advocacy organization, provided direct enrollment services to Georgians in the last two open enrollment periods through enrollment events, in-person appointments, phone assistance and referrals. GHF continues to engage with other enrollment entities through its Georgia Enrollment Assistance Resources (GEAR) network which is a central hub of Marketplace resources, and provides technical support to assisters through newsletters, e-blasts, trainings, webinars, and forums.
In OE3, GHF primarily focused on post enrollment work undertaking more complex consumer cases such as resolving coverage issues with the Marketplace and insurance providers, payment issues, tax filing and reconciliation issues, and issues with supplemental documents. In this role, GHF provided crucial support to consumers and enrollment assisters to resolve these types of issues and help consumers maintain their coverage, feel free to visit https://syntheticurinereview.com/whizzinator-kit/.
Here is what our consumers reported about their experiences
GHF conducted a post-enrollment consumer satisfaction survey with 25 consumers between April and July 2016. The survey participants reported that they sought a combination of services during their appointments. The table below provides the details for each type of post-enrollment assistance.
Twenty-four out of 25 (96%) participants reported that they were able to resolve the issues that they sought assistance for, as explained by these quotes…
“Paid my premium, sent supplemental documents, added two kids to the application, received delayed cards” – Res# 1, Female, 30.
“My coverage had been suspended for over a month due to a technical issue. GHF helped me reinstate my suspended insurance by advocating on my behalf with both Marketplace and Ambetter. My benefits were reinstated within 3 business days”— Res# 16, Female, 62.
GHF Success Stories:
Tony Caldwell, a consumer with disability, was waiting to get his power wheelchair for over a year. With direct enrollment support from GHF, he was able to get his application completed during SEP and select a plan that covered his wheelchair. Tony quotes, “I finally ended up getting my power wheelchair that I had been waiting for over a year. It has helped me from passing out. Thanks to you all.”
Clyde Mohammed and his wife Sharda (West Indian couple) came to renew their marketplace plan at Switzer Public Library in Marietta. They also wanted to change their current plan since the premium was going up in 2016. Assisted the consumers to complete their application. They were found eligible for subsidies. They enrolled into a health plan with $57 monthly premium and $600 family deductible. The family was able to save over $150 in monthly premium by switching their plan.
The majority of the participants reported the Marketplace application process to be very complicated and that they couldn’t have resolved their issues without the help of an enrollment assister. Those participants who found the process to be comfortable reported the assistance they received to be the key reason. Participants also reported that this page talk about it, from the education to enrollment assisters that made it easier for them to understand and use their new health insurance.
Trends from our direct consumer support experiences and those we have heard from our partners suggested that direct enrollment assistance was crucial for consumers in making enrollment decisions as well as tackling post-enrollment issues. Direct assistance will continue to be crucial for consumers, both new enrollees and re-enrollees, in the days to come as there will be changes in participating insurance providers, premium price, and personal details such as household size and income all of which will require enrollment assisters’ expertise.
Moving the conversation forward
Yesterday marked the start of a new chapter in the campaign to close the coverage gap. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce Health Access Task Force unveiled a set of proposals best beard trimmer to expand coverage. We are heartened that business leaders and health care industry stakeholders recognize the important role that coverage plays in a healthy and productive Georgia. You can read the news coverage in the AJC, WABE, Georgia Health News, and Atlanta Business Chronicle.
Is it a good plan?
We believe a coverage solution is one that extends coverage to all those Georgians caught in the coverage gap, does not erect unnecessary barriers to care, and maximizes the federal dollars set aside for Georgia. The Chamber’s proposal is a big step in this direction. While we have concerns about how some of the proposed provisions will impact consumers, we look forward to working with the Chamber, legislators, our Cover Georgia partners, and other stakeholders to find a solution that best serves individuals and families, our state’s health system, and our state’s economy.
What can I do to build on the momentum?
Be a part of the conversation! Your legislators need to know that this is an important issue for their constituents. Here you’ll find a quick and easy way to enter in your address and directly email both your state house and senate member. Let them know it’s time we close the coverage gap!
At Georgians for a Healthy Future, we’ve been fighting for expanded access to care since our doors first opened. We’ve developed videos and graphics to help simplify this complicated issue. We’ve created in-depth tools to explain the nuance and dispel myths. Our postcard and petition project has helped lift up this issue at the Gold Dome where we regularly testify and provide research to lawmakers.
As we get closer to closing the coverage gap we hope you’ll continue to stand with us. By signing up for the Georgia Health Action Network you’ll receive timely updates as the debate unfolds and easy ways for you to stay engaged. And, of course, we’re here for you! If you have questions about what’s going on, please ask!
Getting Georgia Covered: What We Can Learn from Consumer and Assister Experiences During the Third Open Enrollment Period
With three annual open enrollment periods completed and a fourth one just around the corner, the Health Insurance Marketplace has become established as the avenue for purchasing coverage for roughly half a million Georgians. This report builds on last year’s Getting Georgia Covered: Best Practices, Lessons Learned, and Policy Recommendations from the Second Open Enrollment Period and focuses on understanding the characteristics of the people who have enrolled in marketplace plans and the experiences of consumers and the enrollment assisters who helped them. Their insights can inform the work of advocates, stakeholders, and policymakers to reach shared goals of reducing the uninsured, improving access to care, and addressing affordability for consumers.
Inside you’ll find:
- 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
- Policy opportunities to increase enrollment, improve access to care, and address affordability issues
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 11th and 12th, 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.
Does a strong consumer voice make a difference in health policy outcomes? According to a Mathematica Policy Research evaluation of state-level consumer health advocacy projects supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), yes!
At Georgians for a Healthy Future, consumer engagement is woven into each of our initiatives to bring the needs – and voices – of Georgia health care consumers into the public policy process. Over the past two years, one of our top priorities has been maximizing health insurance enrollment and ensuring that, once enrolled, consumers can access the care they need. Our work in this area, along with that of similar efforts in seventeen other states, was recently evaluated by Mathematica. The evaluation focused on the activities and outcomes of the eighteen Consumer Voices for Coverage (CVC) projects funded by RWJF.
Georgians for a Healthy Future was a CVC grantee in 2014-2016. Through this program, we focused on outreach, education, and enrollment in coverage and used this work to inform and strengthen our policy work. The CVC evaluation found that coalitions, such as the one led by GHF in Georgia, played a central role in successful outreach, allowed consumer advocates to work together to help maximize enrollment and retention, and helped identify policy issues needing attention.
These coalitions worked to increase enrollment in health coverage programs by building alliances with diverse stakeholders, mobilizing and engaging consumers, identifying achievable policy options to address issues arising from consumer experiences, designing and implementing communication strategies, and securing resources to sustain these efforts.
While the CVC program is winding down, Georgians for a Healthy Future’s work in this area will continue through our Georgia Enrollment Assistance Resource (GEAR) network and through our ongoing policy work around coverage, access to care, and health care value. As we continue this health policy and advocacy work, we will leverage the advocacy infrastructure and ability to translate consumer voices strengthened through CVC into concrete policy actions.
To read the complete Mathematica evaluation, click here.
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