What's next at the national level with health care reform?

The Colorado Health Policy Coalition met last week and shared this via email after the gathering:

"Thanks to the more than 60 of you who joined us yesterday for our panel discussion on Medicaid in the context of federal health reform. And huge thanks to our excellent panelists, Sue Birch, Jeff Bontrager, Joan Henneberry and Bill Lindsay, for sharing their time, insights and expertise with us. As follow up from the meeting, attached please find:

·      High level summary notes of the panelists’ comments

·      Jeff Bontrager’s slide presentation

·      Colorado Medicaid and CHIP handouts from the CO Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

Additionally, here are a few other resources that were referenced in remarks made in the meeting and / or relevant to the conversation:

·      “Medicaid is too expensive not to cut and too critical to decimate,” Denver Post Editorial, May 29, 2017

·      “The Senate’s Medicaid Moment,” Wall Street Journal Editorial (subscription required), June 6, 2017

·      Medicaid in Small Towns and Rural America: A lifeline for Children, Families and Communities, Georgetown Center for Children and Families and University of North Carolina NC Rural Health Research Program, June 2017

·      Urban Institute report on how Medicaid spending disparities among states is problematic for a per capita cap approach, September 2016

·      “With or without Washington, states are already remaking Medicaid,” Politico, June 12, 2017

Clearly there are both political and policy questions that face us: how do we best engage in the political discussions happening in Congress and at the US Department of Health and Human Services to help shape federal policy change? How do we best engage in efforts locally to prepare Colorado for whatever lies ahead? We clearly heard from the panelists a need for engagement in both arenas – political and policy.

We’ll be working with the CHPC’s informal steering committee on next steps, including a new sign-on letter for the broad coalition. We will also continue monitoring the situation in Washington and providing email updates on the rapidly changing landscape there. And, as always, we are here to serve as a resource for your organization’s individual advocacy efforts. As a reminder, we have fact sheets, profiles stories of Coloradans from different parts of the state who would be impacted by changes to various provisions of the Affordable Care Act and are happy to help answer questions, track down data and / or connect you with other organizations in the coalition that may share your priorities. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.

For those of you feeling a sense of urgency to engage our U.S. Senators to express your opposition the American Health Care Act (the bill passed in the US House) and/or specifically the proposed changes to Medicaid, please check in with the Protect Our Care Colorado coalition, a local coalition of primarily consumer advocacy groups being led by the CO Consumer Health Initiative (CCHI). For more information about or to get involved with Protect Our Care CO, contact CCHI Executive Director, Adela Flores-Brennan."