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

For now it appears attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act are dead, at least for this year. (There are however a few other things that need advocacy now at the national level - see the 2 posts below re: CHIP & the NHSC)

• A new blog from the Colorado Health Institute looks at the lessons from this year's repeal effort: Coverage matters. Read the blog here.

#FundCHIPColorado

On Sept. 30, funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which has allowed 8.9 million kids nationally to access quality affordable health care, ends. And with that end comes the end to access to quality, affordable health care.

In Colorado, about 90,000 kids and pregnant women use CHIP and our state agency that oversees the program reports that thousands will begin losing their health care early next year. Pregnant women shouldn’t have to worry about whether their health insurance will end in the middle of their pregnancy. Parents of kids with cancer shouldn’t have to worry about whether they will be able to get their kid’s medicine next year. Call and tell your Senators and Representatives that you expect action now. There’s still time for Congress to do the right thing. (Click here for social media content.)

Suggested talking points:

• We need Congress to get CHIP refunded by this Saturday.
• Pregnant women shouldn’t have to worry about whether their health insurance will end in the middle of their pregnancy.
• Parents of kids with cancer shouldn’t have to worry about whether they will be able to get their kid’s medicine next year.
• Extending funding for CHIP for five years will help ensure stable coverage for working families and greater budget certainty for states.
• Maintaining funding for the CHIP program is crucial to protecting Colorado’s budget.
• 90,000 children and pregnant women from working families in Colorado use CHIP for their health insurance every year.
• Kids with health coverage are less likely to drop out of high school, more likely to graduate from college, and have higher incomes as adults.

Contact Information for Colorado’s U. S. Senators

Senator Michael Bennet

Local office (303) 455-7600 National office (202) 224-5852

Senator Cory Gardner

Local office (303) 391-5777 National office (202) 224-5941

Contact Information for Colorado’s U.S. Representatives

Representative Coffman

Call if you live in Aurora, Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Brighton

Local office (720) 748-7514 National office (202) 225-7882

Representative Tipton

Call if you live in Grand Junction, Durango, Pueblo, Gunnison

Local office (970) 259-1490 National office (202) 225-4761

Representative Buck

Call if you live in Greeley, Fort Collins, Longmont, Brush, Burlington, Fort Morgan, Stratton, Julesburg, Holyoke

Local office (970) 702-2136 National office (202) 225-4676

Representative Lamborn

Call if you live in Salida, Buena Vista, Colorado Springs, Monument, Fountain, Canyon City, Woodland Park

Local office (719) 520-0055 National office (202) 225-4422

Representative Polis

Call if you live in Lafayette, Niwot, Boulder, Fort Collins, Lyons, Loveland, Granby, Breckenridge, Silverthorne, Kremmling  

Local office (303) 484-9596 National office (202) 225-2161

Representative Perlmutter

Call if you live in Lakewood, Arvada, Westminster, Thornton, Northglenn

Local office (303)274-7944 National office (202) 225-2645

Representative DeGette

Call if you live in Denver

Local (303) 844-4988 (202) 225-4431

Final Days to Take Action on the National Health Service Corps

"The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) is leading the effort to protect the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and push for its expansion to all underserved in the future.

The NHSC, established in 1972, is designed to incentivize primary care providers to work in the highest need areas of our country. Last year, more than 10,000 NHSC providers were placed in shortage areas of the country. These healthcare professionals served nearly 11 million people in every state and territory.

This effective program is set to expire October 1, 2017. We need to save and strengthen the program this year - and to be successful, we need your help! Click here to TELL CONGRESS TO SAVE THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CORPS TODAY!"

Source: ACU

Congratulations on a great Safety Net Clinic Week!

Last week community safety net clinics & federally certified rural health clinics celebrated the 8th annual Safety Net Clinic Week! Many clinics hosted site-visits with public officials and some visits are still to come! The Governor proclaimed the week of Sept. 11-15 as SNCW17 and community safety net clinics received the proclamation with the Colorado Rural Health Center.

(left to right, State Rep. Lontine, Michelle Mills (CEO, CO Rural Health Center,) State Rep. Jackson, & Kraig Burleson (CEO, Inner City Health Center)  

Be sure to check out all the activities & social media from SNCW17 on the Safety Net Clinic Week Facebook page!

Did your clinic participate in SNCW17 and I am not aware of it? If so please let me know!

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

"Repeal is back, and this version is just as bad!

The Cassidy-Graham repeal bill came out last week and could be headed for a vote next week. We need to stop this bill now! The Senate has just two weeks left to use the reconciliation bill for repeal, which is why we need to pull out all the stops through September 30th. We do not expect there to be a complete analysis of this bill by the Congressional Budget Office before a vote. That means Senators would be voting on a bill when they don't have an understanding of its impacts on constituents. The Cassidy-Graham bill would:

• Rip coverage away from millions of Americans, including at least 600,000 Coloradans.
• Gut Medicaid for seniors, children, and people with disabilities, and ends the Medicaid expansion currently covering more than 400,000 Coloradans
• End financial assistance that helps working families afford health insurance and send insurers fleeing the individual market.
• Undermine protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
• Take away $3.84 billion in funding for health care in Colorado in 2027 alone.
• Congress should not vote on a bill without knowing the effects it will have. The CBO won't have time to complete a full score of the coverage and premium impacts before a vote.
• Resurrect - and worsen - the devastating cuts in coverage and benefits that the American public and the majority of Congress have already rejected.

This bill disproportionately harms states like Colorado that have expanded our Medicaid program and worked hard to get as many Coloradans covered in private insurance as possible.

Call our Senators! Tell them to oppose Cassidy-Graham repeal bill!

Call your Senators:

Senator Gardner -  Denver: (303) 391-5777 DC: (202) 224-5941

Senator Bennet - Denver: (303) 455-7600 DC: (202) 224- 5852

Call your Representative too:
If there this bill passes the Senate, there may be very little time before the House votes on the bill.

Representative Coffman - Aurora (720) 748-7514, DC: (202) 225-7882

Representative Tipton - Durango: (970) 259-1490, DC: (202) 225-4761

Representative Buck - Greeley: (970) 702-2136, DC: (202) 225-4676

Representative Lamborn - CO Springs: (719) 520-0055, DC: (202) 225-4422

Representative Polis: Boulder - (303) 484-9596, DC: (202) 225-2161

Representative Perlmutter - Lakewood: (303)274-7944 DC: (202) 225-2645

Representative DeGette - Denver: (303) 844-4988, DC: (202) 225-4431

Health Care Rally this Friday!

Health Care Rally: Join us in sending a strong message to Senator Gardner to oppose this terrible repeal bill! 

Friday, Sept. 22nd 11am-1pm
Skyline Park (17th & Arapahoe, Denver)
RSVP Here!

Social Media:

• @SenCoryGardner You have a chance to save health care for 600k Coloradans #VoteNo on #GrahamCassidy #ProtectOurCare
• #GrahamCassidy will gut health care funding for seniors, people with disabilities, and kids. #ProtectOurCare and #VoteNo @SenCoryGardner
• @SenCoryGardner You said last week you want open hearings & bipartisanship on health care. Prove it and #VoteNo on #GrahamCassidy
• @SenCoryGardner You say you support Medicaid sustainability, #GrahamCassidy = CO can't cover seniors, people w disabilities, & kids #VoteNo
• @SenCoryGardner #GrahamCassidy will destabilize individual market and take coverage away from your constituents. #VoteNo & #ProtectOurCare
• @SenCoryGardner CBO won't have coverage/premium effects of #GrahamCassidy. Don't vote for something w/o knowing impacts on constituents!
• @SenCoryGardner Coloradans demand open hearings and normal order for health care legislation. #VoteNo on #GrahamCassidy
• @SenBennetCO The #ACA has helped 600k Coloradans get health insurance, thanks for your work to #RejectRepeal #ProtectOurCare

Every action counts! Make calls, tweet, email, use Resistbot (text "resist" to 50409 to send a fax to Members of Congress), and share on social media what impact repeal would have on you and the people you care about."

Protect Our Care Colorado is a coalition managed by the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative

#FundCHIPColorado

Update from the CHIP Coalition on Sept. 14:

"As many of you have heard, Senate Finance Committee leadership, Senators Hatch and Wyden, have announced a bipartisan policy agreement to continue funding CHIP. We have not yet seen any text, but understand that the agreement includes:

• A 5-year extension of CHIP funding
• Maintaining the 23% enhancement in the CHIP match rate for states  for 2 additional federal fiscal years, followed by a 3^rd year at 11.5%, before ending the enhanced rate, at which time states would return to their previous match rates, which in Colorado is 65%
• Relaxing the Maintenance of Effort (MOE) provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires states to maintain their CHIP eligibility levels at the same levels as when the ACA passed – we are still getting details on how the MOE provision would be relaxed

We will be sure to share a link to the legislative text as soon as we see it.

We see this policy proposal as a good first step. It is a bipartisan agreement, and includes a 5-year extension of CHIP funding, which aligns with the coalition’s advocacy. We have not seen legislative text yet, so we feel that it is too early to say that we support the Hatch-Wyden proposal, but we are encouraged by this first step. We also believe that the Senate proposal is likely to be more closely aligned with our advocacy than a proposal from the House.

Our Colorado Senators, Senator Bennet and Senator Gardner have released a statement lauding this agreement to extend CHIP funding. You can see their statement here: https://www.bennet.senate.gov/?p=release&id=4036

Coalition Statement

We released a statement from the Coalition today, quoting Erin Miller, Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Colorado Children’s Campaign as a representative of the Coalition. The statement is linked here."

Latest from (or about) CO Dept. of Health Care Policy & Financing (HCPF)

At a Glance - August 31, 2017
Senior Dental News Bulletin - September 2017
CCHAP Practice Manager Newsletter - September 13, 2017

Safety Net Clinic Week 2017 starts Monday!

Next week is the 8th annual Safety Net Clinic Week! It's not too late to participate in SNCW17! (Click here to access this year's toolkit.) One really easy way to celebrate SNCW17 is via social media; I will be active via Twitter and Facebook and encourage your clinics to do so also!  Click here for social media tips and sample posts!  #SCNW17

If we have not connected already, please let me know how you and your clinic are celebrating SNCW17. I can help you get the most out SNCW17! Please be in touch at brookepowers72@gmail.com or 720.233.7375. Have a great Safety Net Clinic Week 2017!  -Brooke Powers

#FundCHIPColorado

The Colorado CHIP Coalition, led by the Colorado Children's Campaign, is advocating for the continuation of federal funding for CHIP (known as CHP+  in Colorado). Below are some resources to help you and your clinic advocate for continued CHIP funding! #FundCHIPColorado

• CHIP messaging platform
• CHIP factsheet
• CHIP draft social media package including contact info for the congressional delegation
• CHIP web text for your organization’s site
• CHIP email blast text for newsletters

Click here to view the the Colorado CHIP Coalition sign-on letter that was delivered to Colorado's Congressional delegation urging their attention to and support of CHIP funding. During yesterday’s Senate Finance Committee hearing, Senator Bennet referenced the letter and asked that it be entered into the record!

Media help needed – the CHIP coalition is looking for media spokespeople, opinion piece authors and letters to the editor authors. They will connect you with media as well as create initial drafts for their consideration if they are willing. Specifically, they could use help in identifying network partners in the following Colorado counties and cities:

·         Denver

·         Boulder

·         Eagle County

·         Garfield County

·         Weld County

·         Pueblo, Custer or Fremont counties

·         Summit County

·         Kit Carson, Lincoln or Cheyenne counties

·         Yuma

·         Larimer County

·         Jefferson, Clear Creek or Douglas counties

·         Broomfield, Thornton or Northglenn

·         Brighton

Please reply to this email if you are interested in and I will connect get you connected.