Georgians for a Healthy Future staff attended the Connections 2016 conference hosted by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation on March 29^th and 30^th. The conference, held every other year, is an opportunity to network and learn from Georgia’s health and public health practitioners, professionals, advocates, and experts.

This year’s conference theme was partnerships, and in keeping with that theme, GHF was invited to present on how we use coalition building and mobilization as a strategy for policy change at the state level. Cindy shared how our history created an organizational environment that fosters and supports the development of strategic partnerships and coalitions. Laura added to that with an overview of GHF’s five coalitions, a coalition case study, and a review of some selected best practices in coalition development and management. You can see their presentation here.

As a result of the two-day conference, GHF staff came away with new contacts to partner with in the future and new ideas about what partnership might look like. The conference also provided the opportunity to network with existing partners, learn about their emerging work, and identify ways to collaborate moving forward.

If you would like to partner with GHF or join any of our five coalitions, contact Laura Colbert, Director of Outreach and Partnerships, at lcolbert@healthyfuturega.org.

• The Access to Care and Equity (ACE) coalition focuses on ensuring that coverage translates to access to care and has been working most recently on the issue of network adequacy
• The Cover Georgia coalition advocates for closing Georgia’s coverage gap that leaves 300,000 Georgians without a coverage option
• The Georgia Enrollment Assister Resource (GEAR) Network connects people and organizations working to help consumers enroll in coverage
• The Health Advocates coalition is open to health advocates representing non-profit organizations who want to coordinate efforts with other advocates

• The Preventing Youth Substance Use Disorders coalition works together to raise awareness about and advocate for a public health approach to preventing addiction

Do you or does your organization work directly with consumers to help get them covered? Do people in your community come to you with questions about how to make sense of their health insurance? If so, GEAR is for you! Please join us for a webinar to introduce the new Georgia Enrollment Assistance Resource Network — GEAR! GEAR is the new central hub of resources for Georgia’s enrollment assisters and stakeholders who work to educate people on their health and health coverage options. GEAR is full of handouts, interactive consumer tools, important updates, and other materials that will help enrollment assisters and community organizations better educate Georgians on health insurance enrollment, health insurance literacy, and more.

Want to learn more about GEAR and how you and/or your organization can benefit?  Join us on October 19th for a webinar where we will demonstrate how to access GEAR and review some of the materials that can be found there. We will also get your feedback about other resources you would like to see included on GEAR in the future. GEAR is built to help more Georgians connect to health coverage and we want it to work for you!

You can register for the October 19th GEAR webinar here.

At Georgians for a Healthy Future, we pride ourselves on strong partnerships. Over the past few years, we have been collaborating with Georgia Equality and the Health Initiative to ensure that the health care needs of LGBT Georgians are not neglected.

These partnerships brought Whitney Griggs, GHF’s Consumer Education Specialist, to Savannah on September 12^th for the annual Savannah Pride Festival. Together with the Health Initiative, Whitney distributed information related to LGBT health care needs and spoke to festival attendees about how to enroll in health insurance.  Of particular interest was our joint fact sheet with Georgia Equality on Transgender Health Care. Some of the festival attendees who picked up this fact sheet shared stories of having been denied coverage due to being trans-identified in the past, but who can now get coverage that meets their needs because of the Affordable Care Act. People that stopped by the table were also interested to learn that health care services must be provided regardless of gender identity or expression. This means that health insurance plans must cover transition-related care, as long as that care is covered for cisgendered people under on the same plan. So services such as hormone replacement therapy and gender-specific care (like mammograms and prostate exams) must be covered if they are covered for other people enrolled in the same plan.

Whitney also gave out some tips for trans-identified folks to keep in mind when enrolling in health insurance:

• On all enrollment forms, check the sex box that matches the sex you believe is on file with the Social Security Administration.
• Some important questions to ask include:
  • Is hormone replacement therapy covered?
  • Is my doctor included in the plan’s network?
  • Is there a network of trans-friendly doctors and/or doctors who have training working with or currently serve trans clients?
  • Are reconstructive surgeries covered?

All in all, it was great day in Savannah (despite the rain) and people learned a lot from GHF and the Health Initiative.

If you have a specific question about LGBT health care and health insurance, feel free to reach out to Whitney Griggs at wgriggs@healthyfuturega.org or the Health Initiative at (404) 688-2524

You’re Invited!

May 13, 2015 from 11:30 to 2:00

Georgia Railroad Freight Depot; Blue Room

Sign up here!

More than half a million Georgians signed up for health insurance during the open enrollment period that ended this past February (OE2). These strong enrollment numbers mean that more Georgians have access to the health care services they need and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that they are covered. What drove this success story for health care consumers in Georgia? Please join us for a conversation with representatives of the organizations most active in OE2 to learn lessons about their strategies, successes, and challenges that you can apply to your work. After their presentations, you will have the opportunity to ask your most pressing questions about health coverage in Georgia.  Lunch will be provided.

Panelists

Enroll America: Danté McKay, Georgia State Director

GHF: Whitney Griggs, Consumer Education Specialist

InsureGA: Sarah Sessoms, Executive Director

SEEDCO:  Lisa Stein, Vice President Work and Family Supports

US Dept. of Health & Human Services: Dr. Pamela Roshell, Region 4 Director

While this is a free event, please RSVP so we can order enough food.

Please join us on Wednesday, March 25, from 8:45 am to mid-day for a morning of advocacy!  GHF will provide individuals and organizations with the opportunity to advocate for the important health issues that matter to you in the closing days of this legislative session.  You may want to advocate for closing the coverage gap, Medicaid payment parity, raising the tobacco tax, the Family Care Act, rural health care access, or another health policy issue.  You’re all invited to participate!  We’ll provide breakfast, an advocacy training, and an opportunity to share and network with other health advocates.

To sign up, click here.  If you have any questions, please contact Laura Colbert.

Please save the date for an evening of celebration and conversation with Georgians for a Healthy Future on August 7th. It’s been five years since we launched in 2009 with a commitment to provide a strong voice for Georgia health care consumers and communities as health policy is made in our state, and it’s been an action-packed five years!

Please join Georgians for a Healthy Future’s board, staff, and our longtime champions as we reflect on our successes and challenges over the past five years and look ahead to the next five. To purchase tickets, click here.

Georgians for a Healthy Future would like to thank the law firm Thompson Hine for supporting this event by opening up their space in Buckhead for us and providing free parking to all attendees!

   

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.

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!