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Colorado Blue Ribbon Commission for Healthcare Reform

Colorado has formed a Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform. The Commission was created to study and establish health care reform models for expanding coverage, especially for the underinsured and uninsured, and to decrease health care costs for Colorado residents. The 06-208 legislation charged the Commission with:

• Examining health coverage and reform models 'designed to ensure access to affordable coverage for all Colorado residents;'
• Soliciting comprehensive reform proposals from interested parties;
• Selecting between three and five proposals for in-depth technical assessment by an independent contractor;
• Holding meetings around the state to solicit public input; and
• Completing a final report with recommendations to the General Assembly by November 30, 2007.

The Commission has 24 bi partisan members, including eight consumers, eight purchasers who are not health care providers, and eight experts and business leaders. The category of experts and business leaders includes experts in health care and health insurance (including local governments and state government officials and nonprofit organizations); experts in the field of developmental disabilities; health care providers; and members of the insurance industry.

Per Senate Bill 06-208, appointments were made by five appointing Authorities: Governor Owens, Senate President FitzGerald, Speaker Romanoff, Senate Minority Leader McElhany and House Minority Leader May. Christy Blakely, Director, Family Voices CO, was appointed by House Minority Leader May. While many states have addressed reform by establishing a commission, few have included families. We know Christy will continue to be a tireless advocate for children and youth with special health care needs, and as part of this non-partisan Commission, will work to solicit input and make well informed recommendations for reform on their behalf. The tight timeline required of the Commission is to provide 3-5 comprehensive health reform proposals to the legislation by November, 2008.

Network News

Family Voices is pleased to announce the addition of Adelita Martinez to the Family Voices staff. Adelita is the new Office Coordinator in the Albuquerque office. Answering the phone is one of many clerical/administrative responsibilities Adelita has assumed, so now you know who belongs to the lovely voice on the other end of the line!

 

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Champions InC
Champions InC (Champions for Inclusive Communities), one of Family Voices’ national partners, is building on the work of the Champions for Progress Center to support Performance Measure #5: Community-based service systems are organized so families can use them easily and their needs are satisfied. Their E-newsletter, Champions for Inclusive Communities, is loaded with lots of helpful information like Focus on Progress: State Snapshots and Community Toolbox. Focus on Progress provides a quick reference for sharing information with families, state and community programs, legislators, and other partners about community-based systems of services for children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN). The Community Tool Box (CTB) website is a free resource provided by the University of Kansas and offers practical skill-building information on over 250 different topics. Check out these and other great resources at www.championsinc.org/.

Spanish Language Website for Families of Children with Autism Launches
We are pleased to share with you the launch of a new Spanish language website by families for families of children and youth with autism— Manitas por Autismo at www.manitasporautismo.com. The mission of this website, created by Maria Abinader, a Support Parent and Peer Consultant for the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN), for Latino families, is to share information, hope, guidance and resources with Latino families; to promote understanding of autism; to create a data base specific to autism; and to defend the rights of children and youth with autism. By helping Latino families exercise their lawful rights for their children and for themselves we are working towards eliminating disparities in the health and educational system. A directory with links to programs for children with autism in New Jersey, USA and Spanish speaking countries, a parent forum and many additional resources are available through this website. Be sure to share this exciting new website with others.

New Reports Shared by Families USA
Families USA has collected information on several new reports and resources that you may find interesting and useful. From the Kaiser Family Foundation, Covering the Uninsured: Growing Need, Strained Resources explains the continued increase in the number of uninsured Americans and examines how federal programs have struggled to stem these increases. State of the States: Building Hope and Raising Expectations reports that state leaders are increasingly willing to address the rising number of uninsured Americans and are investing in efforts to expand coverage. It outlines the specific developments in a few key states, and it identifies trends that many new state plans have in common. Click here to read these and many other reports from Families USA.

Data Resource Center AUDIOCONFERENCE
April 5, 2:00-3:00 pm EDT

Data for Action: Using the Data Resource Center to Strengthen your Story!

Learn about key features of the Data Resource Center (DRC)

Learn how the DRC can help you:

• Explore data findings from key National Surveys of Children’s health
• Find a wealth of information on children’s health, access to care, unmet needs and impact on families, and
• Locate data by age, race/ethnicity and family income for your state, region and the nation.

Learn how family leaders have used the DRC in their advocacy work

Speakers:

• Becky Adelmann, Family Voices of Oregon, Oregon F2F HIC
• Wendy Benz, Family Voices of Arizona, Raising Special Kids
• Christina Bethell, Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative
• Nora Wells, Family Voices, Inc.

To Register email Holly Doggett at HDoggett@hsrnet.com by March 29th. Contact Nora Wells at nwells@familyvoices.org if you have any questions.

This call is sponsored by the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI) in partnership with Health Systems Research, Inc. and Family Voices, Inc. Learn more about the DRC with an online tour.

National Park Service Seeks Input

The National Park Service will celebrate it's centennial in 2016, and has initiated a nationwide campaign to listen to the public about the future of the parks, including people’s ideas and experiences on how to make National Parks more accessible. It is important that persons with hearing, visual, cognitive, and mobility disabilities and their families share their concerns and ideas about program and physical access at National Park Service areas. Click here to electronically submit your comments.

New Brief on Premium Assistance Programs

Premium assistance programs enable States to use funds from Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to subsidize the purchase of employer-sponsored or other private health insurance coverage for eligible low-income families. Yet, little is known about the characteristics of families who enroll in these programs, their experiences in using them, and what happens when they disenroll. A new Issue Brief from the Child Health Insurance Research Initiative (CHIRI™), Who Enrolls in Oregon’s Premium Assistance Program and How Do They Fare?, finds that families reported similar high levels of health care access and satisfaction in the Oregon Family Health Insurance Assistance Program (FHIAP) as compared with SCHIP. However, only one quarter of FHIAP and SCHIP families had access to employer-sponsored insurance. As a result, 70 percent of FHIAP families purchased their coverage in the individual market.

These and other findings and related policy implications can help inform States as they explore new health insurance coverage strategies for low-income children and families. Copies of the Issue Brief are available on the CHIRI™ web site at www.ahrq.gov/chiri/ or by calling the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at (800) 358-9295. (Please specify AHRQ Publication No. 07-0022 when ordering the Issue Brief from the Clearinghouse.)

The Family Voices Store at Family Café—One Stop Shopping for Family and Friends

Looking for a way to honor a family member or special caregiver, or seeking just the right thank you gift? Consider making contributions to Family Voices through secure, on line donations, purchases of Family Voices Merchandise or purchases from Amazon.com through the link on our web home page. Simply visit our website, www.familyvoices.org, to make a donation or to learn more about how financial gifts are used. Donations may be sent directly to: Family Voices, 2340 Alamo SE, Suite 102, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

The Family Voices Store at Cafe Press— www.cafepress.com/shopfv has lots of fun FV t-shirts, mugs and more.

When buying books from Amazon.com, don’t forget to link to Amazon through the Family Voices website home page at www.familyvoices.org. A portion of the sales is given back to Family Voices.

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