National Patient Advocate Foundation commissioned Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC, a national health economics policy firm, to conduct an independent analysis to determine the impact of remedying three essential aspects of health insurance and to evaluate any publically available cost estimates.  The areas include: eliminating pre-existing conditions; limiting out-of-pocket expenses; and eliminating annual and lifetime coverage limits.

On Friday October 23, 2009 NPAF Board Member Venus was invited to participate with First Lady Michelle Obama in an event to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to focus attention on the importance of healthcare for women.

The October 10, 2009 edition of ONS Connect has published results of a 2008 study conducted by the Moran Company and partly funded by ONS and National Patient Advocate Foundation.  The study is focused on the potential impact of the quality of care for cancer patients.

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Immediate past President of the National Patient Advocate Foundation's Executive Board, Edward G. ("Woody") Connette, Esq. was published in the American Bar Association's October 2009 addition of Health eSource.  In Mr. Connette's article, Evidence-Based Medicine Comes to Washington, Connette discusses the $1.1 billion allocation for Comparative Effectiveness Research ("CER") that was included in the $787 Billion Reinvestment and Recovery Act ("ARRA") and the potential impacts on patients, healthcare providers and health benefit plans. 

Edward G. ("Woody") Connette, Esq. is a partner with the law firm of Essex Richards, PA in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended Davidson College (1974), followed by UNC Law School (1977). His practice emphasizes plaintiffs' ERISA, complex personal injury and mental health litigation.

In 1989, Connette began representing women in ERISA cases against insurance carriers who had been denied coverage for treatment of their breast, ovarian and other cancers. From those beginnings, his practice has expanded to include all forms of health and disability insurance coverage denials. Today, he is well known for his expertise in litigating plaintiffs' ERISA benefit claims. He has given presentations on ERISA for ATLA, the North Carolina Bar Association, the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, N.C. Association of Women Attorneys, and the Mecklenburg County Bar.

Connette also has a longstanding interest in Constitutional rights and related federal litigation. The weirder the better. Typical of his work is Thomas S. v. Morrow ("Thomas S. I"), 601 F. Supp. 1055 (W.D.N.C. 1984), affirmed 781 F. 2d 367 (4th Cir. 1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1124 (1986); and Thomas S. v. Morrow ("Thomas S. II"), 699 F. Supp. 1178 (W.D.N.C. 1988), (4th Cir. 1990), cert denied 498 U.S. 951 (1990). More recently, he has been serving as co-counsel in two class actions challenging the conditions under which developmentally disabled children and adults have been confined at state institutions, People First of Tennessee v. Arlington Developmental Center, (W.D. Tenn.) and People First v. Clover Bottom Developmental Center, et al. (M.D. Tenn.). As a result of these cases, the state of Tennessee is revamping its system of delivering services to its developmentally disabled citizens and is building a statewide network of community-based residential and habilitation programs. The public interest and pro bono work of Connette and his law firm have been recognized by the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, the North Carolina Bar Association, the Mecklenburg County Bar, and various community organizations.

Connette's personal interests include surfing, mountain climbing and running. He has climbed Mount McKinley and Mt. Rainier. He has surfed in Hawaii, Australia, Fiji, Costa Rica, Barbados, and the Bahamas, but his home beach is Wrightsville Beach, NC. In 1991, he completed the Ironman World Triathlon in Hawaii. Connette is married to The Honorable Jane Harper, a state court judge.

Read Connette's article in the ABA Health eSource.