Report spotlights ways to enhance health care for GA children

__________________

New study sponsored by Voices for Georgia’s Children, Georgians for a Healthy Future

ATLANTA, Ga. – Two of Georgia’s leading health care advocacy organizations issued a report saying the state could significantly expand medical care to more than 200,000 uninsured children with administrative practices, coverage policies and technologies already being used in other states. (more…)

Georgians for a Healthy Future is a non-profit, non-partisan health policy and advocacy organization that addresses health care issues through a consumer lens. Our 2012 policy priorities were developed with broad input from community stakeholders. We will work collaboratively with our community partners to advance these priorities.

Maximize opportunities and benefits presented by the Affordable Care Act for Georgia health care consumers. Georgians for a Healthy Future will continue to monitor legislation and agency-level activity to implement the ACA and support Georgia laws and regulations that establish structures and systems that maximize benefits for consumers in this process.

Preserve consumer protections for Georgians in private health insurance plans. State laws and regulations provide a basic level of protections and benefits to consumers who buy private health insurance plans. These protections ensure that consumers who purchase these plans obtain meaningful health insurance that covers essential medical services in the event they get sick. Georgians for a Healthy Future will continue to support efforts to preserve and strengthen consumer protections and oppose legislation that would place consumer protections at risk.

Modernize Medicaid and PeachCare by utilizing best practices to improve coverage rates, access to care, and health outcomes. The Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids programs provide health insurance for our state’s most vulnerable citizens. The Georgia Department of Community Health is currently weighing options to redesign these programs. Georgians for a Healthy Future will monitor this process as well as legislative activity and will support policy changes that facilitate continuous coverage and enrollment, preserve and expand access to care, and improve health outcomes. Georgians for a Healthy Future will oppose policy changes that restrict access to vital health care services for Medicaid and PeachCare beneficiaries.

Establish a consumer-friendly health insurance exchange. A well-designed health insurance exchange can add transparency to the health insurance marketplace, spur competition and choice, help make insurance more affordable and available, and give consumers the information they need to make optimal purchasing decisions. Georgians for a Healthy Future will support a health insurance exchange compatible with the American Health Benefit Exchanges (AHBE) authorized by the Affordable Care Act that provides consumers with the appropriate information, tools, and navigation assistance to make optimal purchasing decisions and a governance structure that can effectively and transparently oversee the exchange without conflicts of interest.

Restore child-only health insurance plans to the private health insurance market. Due to a recent change in federal law, insurance carriers in the individual market can no longer deny coverage to a child with a pre-existing condition. Even though insurers may still medically underwrite these policies, insurance carriers in Georgia stopped issuing these policies altogether. Georgians for a Healthy Future will support legislation to restore these plans to Georgia’s health insurance marketplace.

Strengthen Georgia’s public health system. Our public health system plays a critical role by vaccinating children, monitoring and preventing epidemics, ensuring safe food and water, and providing both clinical and community-based preventive services. Despite an increasing need for services, Georgia’s per capita public health spending is among the lowest in the nation. The establishment in 2011 of the new Department of Public Health presents an opportunity to rebuild our public health infrastructure and to place renewed focus on the critical role of public health. Georgians for a Healthy Future supports a robust, adequately funded public health system to meet the critical needs of our state.

Increase the tobacco tax. The current funding environment demands evidence-based policy solutions that both advance the health of our state and generate needed revenue. In recent years, even the most basic, vital, and cost-effective programs have been subject to deep budget cuts. Georgians for a Healthy Future opposes further cuts to these vital programs and supports budget solutions such as a substantial increase in the state’s tobacco tax. Tobacco taxes are a proven strategy with the dual benefit of bringing in additional state revenue and increasing the health of Georgians by reducing adult and youth smoking.

Over the last several weeks, Navigant, the consulting firm hired by the Georgia Department of Community Health to oversee the Medicaid Redesign assessment, has been conducting focus groups across the state as part of the environmental scan stage of the process.  They have met with providers, consumers, advocates and vendors.  For those throughout the state who were unable to participate in these forums, there has still been an opportunity to share your opinions and suggestions on how to improve our Medicaid and PeachCare system, but time for that feedback is running out.  Currently on the DCH website, there is an online survey for consumers, patients, providers and vendors to weigh in on the process. The survey will close this Friday, November 11. Click here to access the survey.

Here is your opportunity to share your experiences in dealing with Medicaid–what works? what could be improved? how do we ensure adequate access to providers, particularly in rural communities?  The compilation of this information is critical in determining how to redesign our current system to make it work for the most number of Georgians.  Navigant will evaluate the survey responses from all across the state and incorporate them into their recommendations for redesigning the system.  This stand up paddle boards is an easy opportunity to have a big impact and we hope that you will continue to promote health care coverage, access, and quality that all Georgians deserve.

Once this stage of the redesign process is complete Georgians for a Healthy Future and our partner organizations will work to ensure that consumer health advocates have the information and tools they need to continue to weigh in on this process. In a few days, Georgians for a Healthy Future will launch a web page where we will house timely and relevant information to help advocates like you exercise your voice in this process and we will be sure to notify you when that site goes live.

In the meantime, please take advantage of this opportunity.  Click below on the survey link that applies to you:
Providers
Consumers
Advocates
Vendors

For more information, please visit the DCH website pages for the Medicaid & CHIP Redesign.

Thank you for all you do to ensure a healthy future for all Georgians!
 

Guest Blog By Pat Nobbie

The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is currently traveling the state to speak with families about their experiences. In a guest post, GCDD Deputy Director Pat Nobbie shares her thoughts with us.

The Unlock the Doors to Real Communities: 2011 Listening Tour has been making its way across the state of Georgia since late September and will have three more stops:  Gainesville, Summerville and Athens on October 28th. Many wonderful people have welcomed us into their communities. They have shared their experiences, what they care about, the challenges they are struggling with and how they want to make an impact.  We have discussed effective ways to advocate for change and how to get involved during the legislative session.  And, we gathered to enjoy each other over delicious pot-luck dinners!

Take a moment to hear some of the thoughts of the Georgians we met and what we have learned along the way. Use the links below to read our impressions:

Cochran

http://www.gcdd.org/2011/09/unlock-the-doors-to-real-communities-listening-tour/

Lyons

http://www.gcdd.org/2011/09/1650/

Quitman

http://www.gcdd.org/2011/10/unlock-the-doors-to-real-communities-listening-tour-quitman-brooks-county/

Ocilla

http://www.gcdd.org/2011/10/unlock-the-doors-to-real-communities-listening-tour-ocilla/

Macon

http://www.gcdd.org/2011/10/unlock-the-doors-to-real-communities-listening-tour-macon/

At the end of July, the Department of Community Health (DCH) awarded the Medicaid redesign assessment contract to Navigant Consulting.  The purpose of the redesign process is to analyze options to manage Medicaid and PeachCare financing, as well as explore improvements in the delivery of affordable, quality, health care for the programs and their recipients.  As part of the contract, Navigant will hold up to 30 stakeholder focus groups across the state, in cities yet to be announced.   Part of the state environmental scan, the intent of these focus groups is to provide a forum for Georgia-specific input from providers, other agencies, advocates, and others affected by Medicaid and PeachCare to provide useful information to both Navigant and DCH as this process unfolds.  If you or your organization would like to participate in these focus groups, you can submit an application online here. The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, September 13th.

(more…)

Georgia’s Department of Community Health (DCH) recently received two federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services to improve outreach and enrollment for Medicaid and PeachCare as well as improve the public health infrastructure in Georgia.  The first grant, worth $2.5 million, will allow DCH to use technology solutions to better coordinate enrollment and renewal in Medicaid and PeachCare programs.  The second grant, worth $499,738, will go to strengthening public health infrastructure for improved health outcomes and to help train and educate public health workers. To learn more about these grants, click here and here.

By Dr. Harry J. Heiman and Cindy Zeldin

This column was originally published in the Athens Banner-Herald on August 26, 2011.

The recent debt-ceiling debate and prime-time display of our elected leaders’ inability to work together epitomized the challenges of advancing thoughtful and impactful public policies. Following the deal in Congress, news coverage quickly moved to speculation about the “super committee,” tasked with slashing an additional $1.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. Lost in the coverage, and seemingly in the discussion, has been the potential impact of the committee’s decisions on vital services for the most vulnerable in our communities. At a time when the number of people without health insurance continues to rise, Medicaid and other programs that support health care access for low-income children, families, and the disabled remain at risk.

Reduced federal and state funding for Medicaid and the health safety net would be particularly traumatic for Georgia, which has been hit hard by the economic downturn and suffers from high poverty, high unemployment, and high rates of uninsured people. Nearly two million Georgians — one in five — are uninsured, and more than one in six live in poverty. These numbers are even worse in many of Georgia’s rural and inner-city communities. At 37 percent, Athens-Clarke County has one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the state. The consequence of these worsening economic indicators is increased distress experienced by Georgia’s most vulnerable citizens. This distress is reflected in Georgia’s dismal health indicators: high obesity rates, high infant mortality rates and overall poor health outcomes.

(more…)

The Georgia Department of Community Health Board met earlier this week and approved a .5 percent cut in reimbursement rates for providers participating in the Medicaid and PeachCare for Kids programs (final adoption of rules). The board also proposed increasing co-payments for Medicaid patients and adding co-payments for the first time for PeachCare for Kids patients ages 6 and older (initial adoption of rules). Both changes reflect decisions made by the General Assembly during the 2011 Legislative Session. However, there is concern among advocates and health care providers that these changes will diminish access to care. For more information about these changes, see a recent Georgia Health News article here and a recent AJC article here. For materials from the Department of Community Health board meeting and information about upcoming meetings, click here.

Gayathri Suresh Kumar, M.D
Georgia State Director, Doctors for America

The House’s proposed budget plan to reduce federal support for Medicaid by converting it into a block grant program is the most absurd idea.  As a physician at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, I provide care for many patients who are dependent upon Medicaid for their well-being. Without Medicaid, what would happen to my patients? Would they stop coming to their appointments or picking up their medications knowing they no longer can afford health care? What if their medical conditions spiral out of control and they seek help at a stage where it may be too late for me to provide meaningful care? (more…)

Georgians for a Healthy Future has a new fact sheet out today about how to access health insurance in Georgia. Please share with patients, consumers, providers, community organizations, or anyone for whom it can serve as a resource. The fact sheet can be downloaded by clicking here.