On Friday, September 28th, the Partnership for Medicaid, of which NACHC is a founding Member, hosted two briefings on Capitol Hill. The theme of this year’s briefing was “The State of Medicaid: Views from the Field and a Look at the Policy,” with a focus on the numerous policy options available that have been floated by legislators and the Administration over the past year or two, and what the impact of such policies would be on states, providers, plans, and patients. The event was a smashing success, with nearly 60 people in attendance for the morning briefing in the U.S. Senate and over 100 people in attendance for the afternoon briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Speakers included Dr. Janelle Goetcheus, the Chief Medical Officer of Unity Health Care – a health center here in DC, who spoke about the importance of Medicaid from a provider perspective and what the Medicaid program has enabled her (and her fellow providers) to do. While Dr. Goetcheus spoke on behalf of all safety-net providers, she did so from the perspective of a Community Health Center doctor.
The Partnership is a non-partisan coalition of providers, safety-net health plans, local government officials, and other organizations with a stake in the Medicaid program. The Partnership’s core mission is to support and strengthen the Medicaid program, and provide ideas and joint-expertise to policy makers. NACHC was the founding Member of the Partnership for Medicaid as part of an effort to fight block granting the program during the early 2000s and currently holds the role of Chair Emeritus.
The full agenda and list of speakers can be found here. Dr. Goetcheus is pictured below addressing Congressional staff at the afternoon House briefing.
