Just over three months ago, President Obama signed health care reform into law, under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Earlier, DCFPI wrote that the District is charging ahead to implement many of the new provisions under health care reform, most notably an expansion of Medicaid coverage to thousands of DC residents. Yet the expansion of Medicaid services is just the beginning of many critical changes to the health care system.
With that in mind, a group of organizations representing consumers and providers of health care services in DC, including DCFPI, sent a letter last week to Mayor Fenty, Councilmember Catania (At-large), and Councilmember Bowser (Ward 4) to put forth a set of principles that should guide health care reform implementation in DC, with the shared goal of “building a comprehensive, simplified health care system in which no one is left without access to care and improving health outcomes for all District residents.”
The organizations, called the DC Coalition on Health Care Reform, urge the District to develop a health care system that gives consumers access to benefits through a single point of entry and that gives health care providers timely and reasonable payments for services. To achieve these means, the Coalition proposed the following set of principles:
- The District should have a coordinated policy development and implementation plan allowing for all affected District agencies and critical stakeholders to provide input.
- The District should ensure that no one loses coverage as a result of health care reform implementation and that all individuals can access quality, affordable health care safely.
- The District should streamline its eligibility rules and processes for public insurance and the Exchange; a new marketplace that will provide a more comprehensive, organized, and transparent point of entry for individuals to shop for, and purchase, health insurance.
- Any money saved through the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) should be reinvested into the health care system.
All of these principles are explained in greater detail here. Today, the Committee on Public Services and Consumer Affairs and the Committee on Health will hold a joint roundtable on health care reform implementation in DC. We look forward to hearing how the District will move forward with health care reform while also addressing the principles outlined by the DC Coalition on Health Care Reform.
