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Dear Friends,
I am forwarding you an extremely important notice for the first public hearing for the Commission on the Georgia Health Insurance Risk Pool. Please pardon the lengthy distribution list for this memo. I am trying to make sure it gets to the broadest audience possible, as quickly as possible, predominantly among persons who have been helpful in our several years' effort to offer coverage for medically uninsurable Georgians. If you are a GAHU member or I have spoken to you about providing testimony, please work with me and David Johnson, insdsj@mindspring.com GAHU Chairman of Governmental Affairs to maximize effectiveness of our approach on this issue.
Those of you who serve the individual health insurance market are encouraged to contact your clients who have been denied coverage due to medical reasons to see if they will be willing to come forward to provide testimony to the Commission. Those of you who have small employer clients who have been negatively affected by migration of medically uninsurable individuals to their plans can also contribute. Due to state and federal privacy laws, and for effectiveness, it is best for the testimony on this issue to come from folks who have been directly affected if they are willing to speak. Let us know whatever you feel you can contribute to this process.
If you are a director of a state high-risk pool or have provided support through your organizations, you are welcome to come, observe, testify or provide yourself as a resource to the Commission based on your experience and expertise in successfully running state high risk pools or supporting them through national organizations. I'd love to hear from you and I'll be glad to provide a briefing on our current posture with the Commission and where we see this process moving forward over the next few months leading up to the 2006 Georgia General Assembly session. My understanding is the Commission will hold public hearings in September and meet as needed to handle the awesome responsibility given to them under HB 320.
Here is a link to the bill on the Georgia General Assembly web site: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/legis/2005_06/sum/hb320.htm (Note that the .pdf version at the upper right hand portion of the page is the final passed version.)
If you are a member of the press, I welcome your participation and monitoring of the work of this important Commission established under HB 320 by the General Assembly in 2005. We can provide a wealth of informational resources and contacts for you.
Reports from Commission members I've heard from so far who attended the first organizational meeting of the GHIRP Commission are quite positive. Their message essentially is that they see this "moving in a very positive direction". It is my fondest hope and prayer that this will continue to be the case. There is no more important work for us (GAHU) in our campaign to stabilize the private health insurance market here in Georgia. I remain at your service. Feel free to call or write. May God bless you and your families.
Michael Wardrip
In case you have trouble opening the attached announcement, here is the date, time and location information:
DATE: September 12, 2005
TIME: 9:00 A.M.
PLACE: 307 Coverdell Office Building (Formerly the Legislative Office Building)
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