NPAF Fall Policy Consortium Focuses on Securing the Safety Net for Patients and Families
National Patient Advocate Foundation held its Fall Policy Consortium on November 8 in Washington, DC. The topic–Securing the Safety Net for Low Income Patients and Families–is timely, and critical to the PAF/NPAF mission of providing direct service patients facing serious and chronic illness, while advocating for accessible, high-quality, affordable health care for all.
In this country, the cornerstone of the safety net for many people is Medicaid. Sara Rosenbaum of George Washington University, a leading expert on the topic warned that there a number of potential threats to this benefit. These include both proposed CMS changes that would impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries as well as political efforts to reduce funding levels of a program which she said, “is a vital benefit for 75 million people.”
Alan Balch, PAF/NPAF CEO followed with the results of a recent PAF survey that emphasizes the interconnected nature of health care. He noted that people worry not just about insurance coverage or drug costs, but also about basics such as transportation, childcare and the ability to buy food.
“This isn’t just about not letting people die,” he said. “Health care is a basic ingredient to self-actualization.
Two panels, one addressing the value of the public safety net and the other the role of private and charitable safety net programs brought depth and breadth to the Policy Consortium. The panels included patients and the mother of a child with a serious disability, who shared their stories of struggling to access the safety net. They engaged in a discussion that ranged from the philosophical to data-based hard reality to personal experience.
What is the Safety Net?
Alan Balch
What Challenges Have You Faced Working with the System?
Martha Herrera
Is Health Care a Social Justice Issue?
Edgar Rivera-Colon
Resources
Annual Impact Report | Patient Advocate Foundation
An overview of the direct impact Patient Advocate Foundation has on thousands of patients each year, with a look at the circumstances that drive these patients and their families to seek assistance
Hardy Perennials and Hothouse Flowers: What Can We Learn from “Repeal and Replace?” | The Milbank Quarterly
The spectacular failure of the “repeal and replace” Obamacare sage that collapsed in July offers an opportunity to reflect.
Even the Insured Often Can’t Afford Their Medical Bills | The Atlantic
The debate over the future of healthcare is obscuring a more pedestrian reality: Insurance may handle most costs, but many Americans still need to turn to charity for help when they get sick
Protecting Medicaid | FamiliesUSA
Resources from FamiliesUSA on the importance of the Medicaid program