League in the News

SECRET CAMPAIGN MONEY HAS NO PLACE IN OUR DEMOCRACY (JULY 2012)
Following the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. FEC, there has been a huge increase in election-related advertising through "independent" expenditures (i.e., not approved or sponsored by the candidates or their political parties). Most of that money comes from undisclosed sources. The U. S. Senate recently voted on the Disclose Act, which was meant to restore transparency to our elections by requiring disclosure of the names of people donating large sums on big-money advertising in candidate elections. Last week that bill was narrowly defeated.
The League of Women Voters has worked for decades to bring about reform to our campaign finance system. We support meaningful debate on this topic of vital importance to our democracy, rather than succumbing to the hyper-partisanship that too often blocks responsible action by Congress. The League of Women Voters believes Americans deserve all the information they can get before they vote. The Supreme Court concurs with this belief stating that "disclosure is important to providing the electorate with information."
Secret campaign money has no place in America's democracy. It undermines the role of the voter and corrupts the election process. Voters have the right to know the true nature of any advocacy group making unlimited campaign expenditures in an attempt to influence elections. The League of Women Voters urges you to contact either Senator Mark Udall or Senator Michael Bennet, both co-sponsors of the Disclose Act, and encourage them to continue to promote transparency in election expenditures.

VOTING RIGHTS ACT (AUGUST 2012)
This week marks the 47th anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discrimination in voting and has been instrumental in ensuring citizens' voting rights are protected from nefarious state election laws. Instead of celebrating, we have watched attempts to undermine this vital law in states across the country. Voter photo ID laws were considered in 34 states in 2011 alone and it is estimated that 11 percent of the population does not have the type of identification required by many of these laws. Especially impacted are the elderly, people with disabilities, low-income voters and young people.
These new voting laws and requirements are unnecessary and costly. Numerous studies have found that of the rare examples of voting irregularities, almost none are the kind that could be prevented by a photo identification law. And putting new voting laws and requirements in place is expensive. Is this really how we want to spend our already stretched-too-thin state budget?
This election is really important. We're not just voting for the president, we're voting for education, healthcare, and our community. Everyone else is voting and so should you. Be sure to visit http://www.Vote411.org for all the election information you need and share it with family and friends so that everyone votes in November.

DISCLAIMER: All links on this site are provided for your convenience only. The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County exercises no control of the information or opinions contained on them. Provision of these links does not indicate an endorsement of their contents by the LWV Jeffco.

FOLLOW-UP INFORMATION FROM AFFORDABLE CARE ACT PANEL PRESENTATION FEBRUARY 2013

Thank you for making this event a huge success!
Looking for information on the topics discussed -
Here are the Presentation Materials supplied by the speakers and more:

CO Health Benefit Exchange Presentation
Connect for Health Assistance Network Fact Sheet
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Medicare Advantage Info from the Kaiser Family Foundation
Here is a four page guide that will cover the Medicare advantage questions that were raised at the League Health Care event. EXPLAINING HEALTH REFORM: Key Changes in the Medicare Advantage Program
For more information on Medicare Advantage, please email your question to Robert Semro, Bell Policy Center at semro@bellpolicy.org

For more information, please visit the following websites:
Kaiser Family Foundation at http://www.kff.org/
CO Center on Law and Policy at http://www.cclponline.org/health_care
Health Benefit Exchange Navigator at http://www.getcoveredco.org
Public Employees' Retirement Association of CO at http://www.copera.org/pera/tools/health.htm
The CO Health Initiative at http://cohealthinitiative.org/

KFF is a non-profit private operating foundation, dedicated to producing and communicating the best possible information, research and analysis on health issues.
The Colorado Center on Law and Policy Health Care Program uses research, analysis, and legal, legislative and administrative advocacy to ensure access to adequate, affordable health care for all Coloradans.
The mission of the Colorado Health Benefit Exchange is to increase access, affordability, and choice for individuals and small employers purchasing health insurance in Colorado. The Exchange is intended to reflect the unique needs of our state, seek Colorado-specific solutions, and explore the maximum number of options available to the state of Colorado in meeting the goals of access, affordability and choice.
PERA provides retirement and other benefits to the employees of more than 500 government agencies and public entities in the state of Colorado. PERA is the 21st largest public pension plan in the United States.
CCHI is a statewide, non-partisan, non-profit coalition of organizational and individual members, representing well over 500,000 Coloradans. CCHI acts as a representative of the policy and advocacy priorities of our members at the legislature and in the community to influence and shape effective health care policy on behalf of consumers.

DISCLAIMER: All links on this site are provided for your convenience only. The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County exercises no control of the information or opinions contained on them. Provision of these links does not indicate an endorsement of their contents by the LWV Jeffco.

The LWV Jeffco held the end of the year General Meeting May 16, 2011 with a Health Care Panel addressing Colorado's implementation of national health care reform. The League's Health Care Services committee was composed of Beverly DeSanto, Elaine Olson, Janet Carlson, Kathy Reul, Marcia Schafer, Sandra Schuster, Tracy Kraft-Tharp, and Jane Banzin.

The panel delivered an informative hour and a half to the 80 men and women who attended. Tracy Kraft-Tharp, chair of the Health Care Services committee and from the Arvada Unit, introduced the panelists. After the presentation, she asked for a show of hands of those who knew more about Colorado's implementation of health care reform and the Exchange than when they came. There appeared to be a unanimous show of hands. The conversations and comments expressed as the crowd left suggested the panel had stimulated the curiosity and interest of attendees.

By January 1, 2014, implementation of Health Insurance Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act is to occur. The choices available to States are to create a state Exchange, create or join into a regional Exchange with other states, or to default to a federally designed Exchange.

The 1st panelist, Joan Henneberry, Colorado Health Exchange Director, described the development of the Exchange as a way to organize the health insurance market place. She described a virtual market place crafted to provide a better way to shop and compare product, price, and benefit. It offers the consumer a chance to:

• Shop and compare on line
• Contact a customer service call center with live operators
• Make an appointment with a navigator who operates much like a broker. The navigator will be available for those who prefer to conduct their business face to face or do not have computer capability or access.
• Utilize a new market place

The 2nd panelist, Senator Betty Boyd, said that Colorado is one of six states that have passed enabling legislation to create an Exchange. Senate Bill 200 "Health Benefits Exchange" was passed with a bipartisan, collaborative effort shepherded by Democratic State Senator Betty Boyd and Republican State Representative Amy Stephens.

The 3rd panelist, Lorez Meinhold, Colorado State Implementation Director, discussed the current status of implementation of health care reform in Colorado. She discussed funding issues for federal health care reform for underserved rural areas. She addressed how to get better value for our health care dollars and stated a need to shift provider compensation from a fee-for-service model to a prevention and wellness care model.

Lorez has put the national reform bill into four "buckets."
1.Coverage. How do we cover more people? There are currently 800,000 people uninsured in Colorado.
2.Cost Containment
3.Fraud and Abuse. For instance, we need better tools to detect Medicare fraud.
4.Insurer Accountability. Insurers need to do their business differently.

Only 6 states have moved towards developing their own Exchanges. Colorado's efforts toward implementation of health care reform have included changes such as:

• Allow parents to cover their children through age 26.
• Eliminate lifetime caps on coverage.
• No more rescission of coverage. Once premium is accepted, coverage cannot be declined.
• No more denials of coverage for children based on pre-existing conditions
• As of 2014, insurers may not increase rates because of health status.

Of note, some of the conversation and inquiry from those attending this forum included:

• There are no federal rules yet but there are two operational Exchanges, Utah and Massachusetts.
• Size and sustainability of Exchanges are undetermined.
• The insurance mandate requiring everyone to buy insurance is necessary for the health care reform and the Exchanges to be sustainable.
• Penalties will be assessed for non-compliance of the insurance mandate via tax returns. The penalties are meant to motivate compliance but are priced so modestly that some may choose to not comply. If at some point they require care, they would be able to get it and be assessed the penalty. This will need to be reconsidered.
• In 2014, Federal Employees go into the Exchange.
• All state employees must have two federal options.
• Because hospitals are required to treat you for emergencies, people utilizing the emergency room will have higher co-pays. Some hospitals have considered establishing primary care clinics where they will be able to redirect non-emergency care.
• Health care utilization has been going down. Why? Some deductible amounts are high and must be met by the insured in order to get the service.
• Under the care act, all preventive services are covered without deductibles and co-pays.
• Basic Benefit Plan
• What care are we utilizing? Lorez has made a copy of her PowerPoint available to the League. Please send a request to the League office at jeffcolwv@netzero.net, and Lopez's presentation will be mailed to you.

DISCLAIMER: All links on this site are provided for your convenience only. The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County exercises no control of the information or opinions contained on them. Provision of these links does not indicate an endorsement of their contents by the LWV Jeffco.