The National Health Law Program protects and advances the health rights of low income and underserved individuals. The oldest non-profit of its kind, NHeLP advocates, educates and litigates at the federal and state level.
NHeLP Spotlight
| NHeLP Celebrates Health Care Reform’s Second Anniversary |
 |
 |
 |
|
The National Health Law Program (NHeLP) is celebrating the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) all week long. Since 2010, we have been working with health care advocates and leaders to educate policy makers and consumers about the many benefits the ACA offers. Many of the ACA’s provisions – including improved coverage of preventive care, protections for consumers from unfair insurance company practices, and the new dependent coverage rules that allow young adults to stay on their parent’s insurance plans up to age 26 – are already in effect. In addition, starting in 2014, Medicaid will be expanded to cover an estimated additional 16 million low-income individuals, providing them access to essential health care. This week, we will be releasing a series of one-page factsheets on the Top 5 Ways Health Reform is helping our communities access affordable, quality care and how NHeLP is helping to make health reform a reality. Check back in for a new Top 5 Factsheet each business day from March 16th – March 23rd. For more information on NHeLP’s ACA Second Anniversary activities, click here.
NHeLP Hosts Health Care Reform Press Briefing for Supreme Court Reporters
On March 7th, the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) hosted and moderated a press briefing for Supreme Court reporters entitled The Affordable Care Act in the Supreme Court: Inside the Issues and their Implications. The panel featured Jane Perkins, legal director, NHeLP; Walter Dellinger, partner, O’Melveny and Meyers LLP; Ian Millhiser, policy analyst and blogger, Center for American Progress; Emily Martin, vice president and general counsel, National Women’s Law Center; and Stacy Canan, senior and managing attorney, AARP Foundation Litigation. NHeLP executive director, Emily Spitzer, moderated the panel. Last month, NHeLP filed an amicus brief before the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion. We were honored to be joined by numerous organizations of health care providers, consumers, and local officials from around the nation in our filing. The ACA expands the Medicaid program to cover eligible persons up to 133% of the federal poverty level. NHeLP’s brief examines the history and structure of the Medicaid program from its enactment, and places the ACA in this historical and legal context. NHeLP’s amicus brief is available here. NHeLP Continues to Fight for Women’s Health In recent weeks, media and legislative attention have focused heavily on whether women should have access to birth control in employer-sponsored health insurance. For years, NHeLP has been a leading voice on the harm of health care refusal and conscience clauses and the importance of accessible evidence-based reproductive health care (click here to see NHeLP's groundbreaking report on this issue). We are actively engaged in current efforts to combat attacks on women’s health and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to ensure that all women, regardless of where they work or attend school, have access to contraceptive coverage. Click here to see our most recent issue brief on the subject, Health Care Refusals and Contraception: Undermining Quality Care. The ACA requires all new insurance plans to cover preventive health services without cost-sharing, including contraception. Religious organizations that meet certain requirements are exempt from having to provide coverage for birth control. In addition, under a recently announced accommodation, insurance companies will directly provide coverage for contraception, at no additional cost, if a religiously affiliated non-profit institution raises an objection to providing contraceptive coverage. |
| Updated Advocate's Guide to the Medicaid Program |
|
|
|
|
Released in June 2011 and NOW AVAILABLE, NHeLP’s comprehensive updated Guide is available in hard copy, as well as by online membership, for the first time featuring brand new interactive web features, such as live updates and user forums. This widely anticipated update incorporates provisions from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010), the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (2009), and the Deficit Reduction Act (2005). The Guide covers Medicaid administration, eligibility, and services, drawing extensively from numerous sources: the United States Constitution, the Medicaid Act, the Medicaid regulations, federal guidance documents, and federal and state court case law. Support for this guide was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. June 2011; 286 pgs; ISBN 978-0-9834720-0-1 Health Reform AnalysisNHeLP has released an in-depth analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) as well as the amendments made to PPACA by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act. Given NHeLP’s focus on Medicaid and CHIP, civil rights, reproductive health and justice, and empowering low-income beneficiaries and their advocates, we have concentrated our analysis on areas of the law most related to those areas and populations. |
