Hemophilia Day 2011 to Focus on State Budget, Medicaid
Horizons in Hemophilia, January 2011
By Jeff Cornett, RN, MSN, Director of Training, Research, and Advocacy
Hemophilia Day, the lobbying day for Georgia's bleeding disorder community, will focus on maintaining adequate funding for the uninsured and resisting any efforts to move those on Disability Medicaid into for-profit managed care. Hemophilia Day will be Thursday, February 3 and will begin with a breakfast with members of the Georgia General Assembly followed by meetings with representatives and senators inside the State Capitol. Registration instructions for Hemophilia Day have been mailed to all Georgia bleeding disorder households.
Within the state budget each year are funds to purchase insurance or provide factor concentrate to people with bleeding disorders, whichever option is cheaper. Hemophilia of Georgia uses this funding in a program for our uninsured clients. Thanks to the health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Hemophilia of Georgia has been able to reduce the cost of this program by enrolling eligible people with hemophilia in the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans and helping those under the age of 26 go back on their parents' insurance plans. These efforts are expected to cut the cost of the program by two-thirds, or over a million dollars, in the next fiscal year. Even though the cost has greatly decreased, state money is still needed to support the program. We'll make sure our representatives in the General Assembly understand the importance of this program and the money it saves our state.
In 2006, Georgia moved children on low-income Medicaid into for-profit managed care companies. Problems began immediately:
- The companies refused to provide factor to some children with bleeding disorders.
- Patients were not allowed to get their factor from Hemophilia of Georgia.
- Specialists, dentists, and other physicians would not see the children because the companies paid the doctors so little to provide care.
For the last four years, Hemophilia of Georgia and the hemophilia treatment centers have been in a constant battle with the managed care companies to get children on Medicaid the care they need. Now some in state government would like to move the disabled on Medicaid into these same managed care companies. It is extremely important that we block any move to do this.
If you are a member of Georgia's bleeding disorder community, please make plans now to attend Hemophilia Day at the State Capitol. The deadline to register for the breakfast is January 21.