‘Healthcare for All Virginians’ coalition releases ‘Virginia Health Scorecard’
- 54 Organizations Unite on Health Care Priorities for Virginia;
Scorecard Highlights Areas for Improvement -29 September 2009
PDF Version
A diverse coalition of organizations representing health care consumers, providers, and purchasers has joined forces as ‘Healthcare for All Virginians’ (HAV) to
promote policy priorities that will ensure access to affordable quality health care for all Virginians, and to educate the public on Virginia’s progress toward meeting this goal. HAV will focus on covering all children, preserving and improving access to care for parents below the federal poverty level, and promoting adequate payment to health care providers who treat Medicaid and FAMIS patients.
HAV was founded on the platform that health care is an essential element contributing to the common good, alongside education, employment, and a safe environment. The coalition’s mission is to help create and advocate for accessible and affordable quality health care for all Virginians. “We all have a stake in ensuring the stability and quality of our health care system, and its ability to serve and protect all patients,” said Michael Cassidy, Executive Director of The Commonwealth Institute. Cassidy pointed to last month’s Robert Wood Johnson Foundation consumer confidence numbers, which showed that more than half of all Americans are worried that they will not be able to pay for their future health care needs if a serious illness arises.
The HAV scorecard illustrates what Virginians stand to gain from health care reform—or lose, if Medicaid and FAMIS programs are targeted for funding reductions in the state budget. Currently, Virginia trails other states in maintaining safety net protections and ensuring affordable private insurance options. For example, Virginia is one of only 10 states with more uninsured children today than 15 years ago, and has seen the 4th largest drop of any state in worker health insurance coverage over the last 15 years.
“We’re acutely aware that these are challenging times for our country, for Virginia, and for individual families. It is our belief that we’ll be better positioned to meet these challenges if we make quality affordable health care for all Virginians a priority,” said Bill Kallio, State Director of AARP Virginia. The coalition will work in the months ahead to raise awareness of Virginia’s performance in covering the uninsured, and to advocate for policies that provide the greatest number of Virginians with access to health care.
About Healthcare for All Virginians: For more information, please visit
www.havcare.org.
Contact: Joy Bechtold Jones
804 | 771-5304
joy@capresults.net
Resources
Health insurance coverage: A Virginia scorecard (PDF)
A child in need of FAMIS: Haley's story (PDF)
A working parent in need of Medicaid: Jennie Vibar's story (PDF)
A doctor's perspective: Samuel T. Bartle, MD (PDF)