« March 2012 Issue

States Forge Ahead on Affordable Care Act Implementation

Across the country, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is moving forward. An innovative collaboration between a number of foundations, the Affordable Care Act Implementation Fund offers resources and technical assistance to state and local advocates to ensure effective and consumer-focused implementation of the health care reform law.

The December issue of Spotlight highlighted the Fund’s unique qualities as a philanthropic initiative and the foundations and partners who provide support. Now we turn our eyes to the states and bring you examples of the successful advocacy work made possible by the Fund’s backing.

In Florida, advocates at Florida CHAIN created a video featuring Louisa, a small business owner. In the video, Louisa talks about her commitment to providing health insurance for her employees and how the Affordable Care Act will help her keep her commitment through the small business tax credit. Louisa’s story, along with small business roundtable events in Tallahassee, Tampa, and Miami, is helping the advocates make the case to Floridians that the Affordable Care Act works for small business owners and their employees.

Advocates in two states took to the opinion pages to raise issues that matter to consumers. In Maryland, Health Care for All! weighed in on Governor Martin O’Malley’s plan to move forward with a competitive state health insurance marketplace, “Exchange,” through an op-ed in the Baltimore Sun. The op-ed outlines the benefits of creating an Exchange that works for Marylanders, and eloquently states that for consumers, the governor’s plan means “more choice, more control and more peace of mind about their health care.” And in Oregon, OSPIRG provides a window into the topic of insurance rate review by shedding light on recent actions they have taken in their state to increase public scrutiny of rate changes by insurance companies.

The Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and its partners undertook a statewide citizen engagement effort and hosted 51 community forums in 27 locations across the state. Advocates spoke with over 600 Coloradans about what they hope to see in the development of the state’s Exchange. The advocates also identified small business owners and other community leaders who care about successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act and are willing to participate as citizen advocates.

The successful advocacy examples from these five states are just the tip of the iceberg. And as implementation of the law moves forward, we will continue to feature innovative and impactful success stories from advocates in ACA Implementation Fund states hard at work to ensure consumer interests are top priority as the new law goes into effect.

O N   T H E   W I R E

Wells Wilkinson, Prescription Access Litigation director, told the Associated Press that while prescription drug co-payment coupons appear to save patients money, they actually increase overall health care costs. Members of the PAL coalition are currently plaintiffs in a lawsuit against eight drug companies.

Jessica Curtis, Hospital Accountability Project director, appeared on Democracy Now! to give national context to a Community Service Society of New York report finding that many New York hospitals are violating rules that would provide assistance to uninsured patients who are unable to afford care. Curtis also co-wrote an article in Clearinghouse Review on how the ACA helps expand access to affordable hospital care.

Christine Barber, a senior policy analyst, told the Washington Post that the lack of continuous funding for consumer assistance programs was unexpected and possibly devastating to programs in several states.

Roadmaps to Health Community Grants released a call for proposals for its second set of grants. The project will hold two webinars for interested applicants. Roadmaps to Health builds on the County Health Rankings, which rank the health of nearly every county in the nation to illustrate the factors that influence the health of our communities. The 2012 County Health Rankings, which are published online by University of Wisconsin Populuation Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will be released on April 3.

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Media Contact

Jack Cardinal
Deputy Director of Communications
617-275-2923 
jcardinal@communitycatalyst.org

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