Georgians for a Healthy Future’s Executive Director Cindy Zeldin attended the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) last week in San Diego in her capacity as a consumer representative to the NAIC. Cindy presented information on the enactment of health insurance provider directory improvement legislation in Georgia (SB 302) as part of a panel of consumer representatives discussing how the NAIC network adequacy model act is being taken up in the states. Also presenting were Claire McAndrew of Families USA, who provided a bird’s eye view of activity across the nation on network adequacy, and consumer representatives from Colorado and Maryland. This discussion was part of the Consumer Liaison meeting, which provides a forum for consumer representatives to interface with state insurance regulators from across the country.

Also at the summer meeting, the consumer representatives released a new policy paper on prescription drug access and affordability. The report, Promoting Access to Affordable Prescription Drugs: Policy Analysis and Consumer Recommendations for State Policymakers, Consumer Advocates, and Health Care Stakeholders, provides a series of recommendations to assist regulators, lawmakers, and the NAIC on ways to promote access, affordability, nondiscrimination, transparency, and meaningful oversight of prescription drug coverage. The report includes examples of existing state and federal approaches to addressing these issues as well as recommendations for consumer-protective policies to be considered by state and federal policymakers. The report was made possible with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.