As President Barack Obama pushes national health care reform and Congress works to draft legislation, the Public Welfare Foundation brought together 47 health care advocates from 14 states and the District of Columbia to talk about how they can inform the debate going on in Washington, DC as well as how the results of that debate will affect state-level reforms.
Community Catalyst, a national advocacy organization that focuses on making quality, affordable health care accessible to everyone, facilitated the meeting as part of its work with other Foundation grantees to build an effective consumer voice for health reform nationally and in the states.
Representatives from the 11 states that comprise the Foundation’s Southern Health Partners’ group – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia -- as well as participants from Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington, DC agreed with many of the priorities for comprehensive national reform legislation presented by Community Catalyst’s Policy Director Michael Miller. Those priorities include: ensuring quality health care that is affordable; maintaining and expanding Medicaid so that low-income families and individuals with special needs are provided with comprehensive, quality care; providing health care that is linguistically and culturally appropriate; eliminating health inequities and disparities; reforming health insurance; and creating a strong public plan option that would give people more choice and help reduce the growth of overall health costs.
In addition to discussions about national health care policy, participants exchanged information about the challenges of achieving health care reform in the states, particularly at a time when so many state budgets face shortfalls. Advocates shared strategies in organizing and communications. Natalia Cales, the lead organizer for South Carolina Fair Share, in Columbia, SC, said she gained confidence to share her thoughts and ideas with her more seasoned colleagues.
And one of those seasoned colleagues, Tony Garr, executive director of Tennessee Health Care Campaign, was visibly excited at the prospect of national health care reform. “It’s taken us 20 years to get here,” he said, “but we’re at the doorstep. We now have the opportunity to make something happen.”
