Gold Medals for the CVC Speakers!

CCHI’s 6th annual CVC Conference: Going for the Gold! Celebrating Success and Training for the Future was fantastic! While celebrating the successes of Colorado’s first open enrollment period, people from all across Colorado and national speakers constructively discussed what we could do when preparing for the next open enrollment period and how we can tackle tough issues like affordability and health literacy.

We had such great speakers for our 6 breakout sessions, our keynote, and our lunch panel, and on top of that had a packed house of amazing, intelligent attendees. We won’t recap the entirety of the day, but below you will find the Powerpoints and hand-outs from the CVC conference.

Our keynote speaker, Heather Howard, discussed the successes of Colorado and gave a broad overview of what happened nationally and some of the lessons Colorado can take away. Heather lauded Colorado’s pathway to a streamlined application process, and answered questions about health care affordability. She also highlighted the success other states have had by fast tracking enrollment in Medicaid and offered it as an idea to further improve Colorado’s enrollment. The State would accomplish this through automatically enrolling qualifying Coloradans in Medicaid who currently receive aid through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

We had national speakers bring their enrollment experiences from other states to the conference. Kentucky had the highest rate of enrollments in rural areas nationally. Cara Stewart, the Health Law Fellow at Kentucky Equal Justice Center, explained it was all about the outreach: “you have got to find non-traditional partners, go where the people are.” She went to churches, sporting events, bars, and fairs to speak about the law and the upcoming open enrollment period. Marcia Dávalos brought some great ideas from her experience reaching Latino small business owners across Southern California in her role with the Small Business Majority. She emphasized having culturally responsive communications and finding or creating events that are culturally appropriate. Emily Polak from Community Catalyst discussed the importance of one-on-one assistance, a lesson echoed across the nation.

Christie Donnor with the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, Clayton Scherf with the GLBT Center, and Mirna Castro with Servicios de la Raza hosted an insightful and unique panel on connecting underserved populations to coverage. Donner explained that the criminal justice population is fluid and will churn on and off Medicaid eligibility based on bail bonds, jail, and probation. With all these underserved populations, cultivating the culture of coverage is one of the most challenging aspects of getting these populations enrolled.

Steve Erkenbrack, CEO and President of Rocky Mountain Health Plans, Jessica Dunbar, Eligibility Director at Connect for Health Colorado, and Elisabeth Arenales from the Colorado Center on Law Policy spoke about the future of Connect for Health Colorado. With Colorado successfully through the first open enrollment period, this panel looked at the future of our state-based marketplace. Steve Erkenbrack emphasized the health insurance carriers are striving to create plans and systems that better deliver care. Jessica Dunbar detailed how Connect for Health Colorado is working to create a more streamlined experience for their consumers applying for financial assistance and to upgrade their shopping pages to better meet consumers needs. Finally Elisabeth Arenales emphasized the importance of ensuring that all consumers, regardless of health condition, have affordable health insurance plan options available to them.

Marc Reece with the Colorado Association of Health Plans, Edie Sonn from the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, and Katherine Blair, Senior Policy Advisor for Health, Office of Governor Hickenlooper spoke about the issue that is of upmost importance to consumers when purchasing health insurance—cost. Marc Reece spoke about all the components that comprise a health insurance plan and the challenges of providing care to consumers while also shielding them from the high costs of emergencies. Edie Sonn provided a sneak-peak of a new consumer tool from the All Payers Claim Database, which will help consumers be better informed about costs of procedures at different hospitals. Finally, Katherine Blair went over some of the issues Colorado has recently faced like the varying costs of insurance across geographic regions. This conversation is the beginning of a larger conversation Colorado will be having over the next year through the Commission on Affordable Health Care created by Senate Bill14-187.

What a day! It was the start of an important conversation about celebrating what Coloradans have accomplished and identifying how we continue improving and leading on health reform in Colorado. We would love to hear your feedback and connect with you if you have any new ideas you’d like to share or think CCHI could partner on. Any comments and suggestions can also be sent to rbiehle@cohealthinitiative.org.

Conference Materials

Agenda

Speaker Bios

Cut the Cost 2015

Rate Review Info grapic

CCC Health Insurance Checklist

CCC Health Care Guide

Keynote

Heather Howard, Program Director, State Network

Cross Training: Enrollment Lessons from Other States

Marcia Dávalos, Southern California Outreach Manager, Small Business Majority

Emily Polak, State Advocacy Manager, Community Catalyst