| The latest news from and for state health care advocates |
July 2010 |
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In This Issue:
Buzz around the States
Wisconsin Budget Project has a new blog.
Georgians for a Healthy Future placed an op-ed about the early benefits of the new health reform law.
The Center for Public Policy Priorities in Texas explains the intersection of Texas’s two high-risk pools in their new brief: Something Old, Something New.
Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, comments on the number of small businesses set to receive tax credits thanks to health reform on the radio.
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States in Focus
New York Uses the Web to Connect Consumers to Care
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For groups that focus on policy and advocacy, but interface with consumers about health care on a regular basis, a website like New York’s might be a useful way to help people without devoting significant staff time to a hotline or other assistance program.
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Early this month, the health care community applauded as the Department of Health and Human Services launched Healthcare.gov to serve as the new web portal to help consumers navigate the health care system. But, as in many cases, New York was already three steps ahead. New York’s web portal for consumers has been around for four years at http://nyconsumerhealth.org/.
The website was created by the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York (PPEFNY) and funded through a grant from the state. The site has a heavy focus on public programs, but also has information specific to different populations. The site recently underwent a renovation that included the addition of county-specific information, navigation by age group, and easy-to-read fact sheets about the new health reform law.
Charlie Albanneti, Communications Director at Citizen Action of New York, played a significant role in the renovation of the website. Charlie explained that the real goal was to give people a place to go to better understand their health care options, and he knew the only way to achieve that was to make the content readable at a very basic level.
According to Charlie, half the battle is letting people know that the site is available. The Public Policy and Education Fund of New York is an affiliate of Citizen Action, which has been able to help raise the profile of the site. Citizen Action organizers across the state have been instrumental in that effort. By pushing out the site during canvasses, organizers can give people a tool to help them find health coverage. Flyers are also distributed through the Department of Social Services, health clinics, and hospitals throughout the state. Organizers across the state are letting consumers know about the site during outreach and education about the new health reform law. The Public Policy and Education Fund of New York has also developed a very useful one-page fact sheet that describes the benefits in the new law, which is featured on the NYConsumerHealth site.
Charlie says that for his group, which is not a direct service organization, the site provides people with the information they need to get access to coverage without being overly staff dependent.
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In many conservative states, it can be very difficult to work with state agencies that are administered by political appointees and complicated program budgets. In certain circumstances, time may be better spent working directly with federal agencies, like the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.
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Mississippi Organizes Doctors to Fight Medicaid Cuts
In many states, severe budget shortfalls trigger drastic cuts in Medicaid. In Mississippi, advocates anticipated a very long and nasty legislative session, but when the Mississippi Division of Medicaid submitted a state plan amendment to the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), advocates were taken aback and needed to rethink their strategy.
If approved, the amendment would slash provider rates by well over 14 million dollars statewide in the remaining fiscal year alone. Time and again, history has shown that lowering provider rates has limited doctors’ participation in Medicaid, which leaves some of the most vulnerable people without access to care. Roy Mitchell, Executive Director of Mississippi Health Advocacy Project (MHAP), said, “These proposed cuts were nothing new for Mississippi, but we needed to target our advocacy efforts toward CMS (Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services) instead of the state legislature in order to defeat the amendment.”
Mitchell began aggressively reaching out to powerful provider groups like the Mississippi Hospital Association, Mississippi Pharmacists Association, and Mississippi Nurses Association urging them to send letters, call top officials at CMS, and coordinate with one another to generate a great deal of media attention around the proposed cuts.
In a matter of weeks, under severe public scrutiny and unlikely approval by CMS, the Mississippi Division of Medicaid withdrew the state plan amendment. “By building a strong coalition of strange bedfellows,” Jacqueline Agho of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Project explains, “we were able to quickly and effectively avert the most detrimental cuts to Medicaid that Mississippi has seen in years.”
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Unfortunately, the opposition to health care reform is not going away. But, just as we won the health reform fight, we are winning these state battles over the federal law. A strong education campaign, coupled with a strenuous implementation plan, can get states thinking about covering more people, reigning in insurance industry abuses, and in the end, making the American health care system better for everyone.
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Anti-Reform Measures Continue to Fail across the Country
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been law for four months. In that time, efforts to confuse and mislead the public about health reform have continued. One of the most prevalent tactics of those opposed to reform has been to push legislation and ballot initiatives that would allow states to opt-out of the law. However, it has become very clear that those efforts are far more political than substantive, and for that reason, the overwhelming majority have failed.
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The Progressive States Network (PSN) has been monitoring their progress and has created this map to show where these measures have failed. You can read more at alecfail.com.
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Two states where groups attempted to get ballot initiatives to opt-out of reform have failed to garner the signatures needed. While anti-reform groups have been challenging the constitutionality and legality of the new law, there has also been a parallel effort led by state-based consumer advocacy groups to educate the public about the law. These efforts have been successful in clearing up confusion and, in the end, building support for many provisions in the law.
Michigan: Margie Mitchell, Executive Director of MichUHCAN, recently celebrated a win for her state. A group called Michigan Citizens for Health Care Freedom failed to collect the necessary signatures to amend the state constitution by ballot measure. Not only did the group fail to obtain the needed signatures, but anti-reform legislation also failed in the state legislature. Meanwhile, MichUHCAN and state partners are educating the public about what is in the legislation and the real benefits that Michiganders will see this year. Margie sees her education efforts as immensely important for several reasons. With an election year coming up and the opposition to reform not going away—it is important to increase support for health reform. For Margie, education is the answer.
Ohio: In Ohio, a similar story unfolded. A group called the Liberty Council attempted to get support for a ballot initiative to opt-out of the law. In June, the group failed to get the needed signatures to get their measure on the ballot. Kathleen Gmeiner, with UHCAN Ohio, points out that these efforts are purely political. The groups behind them are seeking to galvanize support for an anti-health reform, anti-government political agenda. Meanwhile, UHCAN Ohio and other pro-reform groups have been getting out and talking to Ohioans about what the law means for them. Because the Liberty Council or other anti-reform groups may try for another ballot initiative in future years, Kathleen explained, it only adds to the importance of their strong public education efforts.
Beat of the Month
There are definitely some anti-reform groups with broken hearts this month as their attempts to nullify reform continue to fail, but at least we told them from the start: Break Your Heart.
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On July 30, Medicaid and Medicare celebrate their 45th anniversary. The programs were established when President Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965 into law. In the last 45 years, they have provided health coverage for the neediest populations and changed the face of the American health care system. Use this special date to submit a letter to the editor or an op-ed about the merits of these programs. Contact us (email to stateinfo@familiesusa.org) for talking points.
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New Resources from Families USA
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