Advocacy

POTR is Hot in San Antonio!

Laurie Kelley June 28, 2011

Insurance is still the hottest subject in bleeding disorders, and this past weekend in San Antonio really proved it. We had a great turn out for “Pulse on the Road,” our unique symposium, sponsored by Baxter Healthcare Corporation, that is completely devoted to educating patients about insurance reform. As guests of the Texas Central Hemophilia Association and Lone Star Chapter of NHF, we presented a three-hour symposium on Sunday, June 26, from 7 am to 10 am, to an audience of over 200 patients and their families.

The chapters did an excellent job of attracting patients and families to attend. With hundreds of family members and a fair amount of industry representatives, this was a stellar meeting. I loved seeing the children with hemophilia scampering about, or holding relay races in the hallways as part of the supervised kids’ programs. No joint problems anywhere!

While a nutritious, hot breakfast was served, I started the session Sunday morning with an overview of hemophilia’s history and how our unique history has been placed high on the radar screen of insurance companies and state governments. My talk was followed by Elizabeth Stoltz of Baxter Healthcare, who gave an Insurance 101 session; her talk covered common terms that all families will need to know to navigate healthcare reform. Then, Michelle Rice of NHF presented the results of a patient-focused survey from last fall, which tested to see how much bleeding disorder patients knew about their insurance and insurance reform. Results were encouraging, as high numbers knew that lifetime maximums were being eliminated and that dependents would be able to stay on their parents’ insurance until age 26.

Finally Jim Romano of Patient Services, Incorporated (PSI) gave the keynote about healthcare reform. Breaking down the many changes into digestible amounts, Jim covered how the new healthcare reform will help us, and what we need to monitor to ensure we continue to have access to the care we need.

To spice things up and keep our audience sharp at such an early hour, I asked the audience after each presenter a question, and whoever got the right answer won cash! The message: we are trying to educate to keep the cash in your wallets. If you don’t know much about your own insurance policy, you may overpay. If you don’t know how insurance reform will impact you, you may lose money. In these economic times, we want every family to preserve their hard-earned dollars. The “competition” added some fun to the topic of insurance and we had some sharp people in the audience!

Following the speakers we had three breakout sessions on Medicaid, Out of Pocket Costs and Advocacy. Everyone agreed that 45 minutes for break out was not enough. These interactive and informal gatherings proved the highlight of the meeting. Patients were able to ask questions about their personal situation with experts in their field. Jim Passamano, of Sufian & Passamano LLP, a lawyer specializing in chronic disorder and insurance, helped explain Medicaid changes to many families. Shannon Brown, a social worker from Texas, spelled out certain out of pocket costs that patients will need to monitor closely. And Michelle Rice of NHF presented a new personal tool to help families get a handle on comparing insurance plans.

Simultaneous translation into Spanish helped the many Spanish-speaking families understand how healthcare reform may impact them.
Patients truly appreciated the three-hour program and the chance to speak to insurance experts in bleeding disorders. “I would like to have attended all the [break out] sessions and not just one!” commented one attendee. “I’m very pleased at how much I learned and all the wonderful people I met!” exclaimed another. When asked if they learned something new, every hand in the room was raised!

Thanks to Luis and Shannon, executive directors of their chapters, and coordinators of the event, for inviting us, and to Baxter Healthcare Corporation for their sponsorship.

Visit our website (“Events”) to see where we take Pulse on the Road next!

Visit our website to download your complimentary copy of Pulse, our newsletter devoted to insurance reform for the bleeding disorder community.

Interesting Book I Just Read
Altitude Illness: Prevention & Treatment
Stephen-Bezruchka, MD
This is a small book, written to be taken while trekking on mid- to high-altitude mountains. I read most of it on one plane ride. It’s chock full of good information, and goes into great (and scary) detail of what can happen to you if you are not careful on the mountains. It’s very dry, terse, to the point, and may make you think twice about attempting the big ones. Too late for me! I am going to tackle Mt. Kilimanjaro in August. The strange thing about altitude sickness is you just never know who it will strike. Marathoners and top athletes, like Martina Navratilova, can get it, and 12 year olds with limited climbing experience may avoid it. You never know till you are there. Two stars.

Kentucky Reigns

Laurie Kelley April 11, 2011


This week I travel to Kentucky to meet with many old friends and to be introduced to new ones at Hemophilia Federation of America’s annual Symposium. I usually am traveling overseas and have missed the last few years. HFA’s Symposium brings community members together to attend educational sessions, meet new members of the community, experience HFA programming, get motivated to action and to also have fun.

I am especially interested in the program on Healthcare Reform, to hear how healthcare reform may impact those with bleeding disorders.

So when was the last time you checked out the Hemophilia Federation of America’s website?

It’s a great place to see advocacy in action. If there is one word I’d use to describe HFA, it’s advocacy. Founded in 1994, HFA has come a long way to define itself as a national organization. It was founded to meet unmet needs, though at the time we already had a national organization. The US is a big country, and diverse, with a traumatic history regarding hemophilia. HFA began as a grassroots upstart, defying the status quo and challenging the system—it’s primary focus was on blood safety, which made sense since so many of those who founded HFA were affected by the HIV contamination.

Now, with much of that behind the community, HFA still keeps its activist core and encourages families to join their efforts. This is much needed now as we enjoy the benefits of the new healthcare reform even while we worry what it holds in store for us.

Tune in next Sunday when I will provide some highlights and photos from my visit.

And visit www.hemophilifed.org to see what this driven and talented group is accomplishing!

Great Book I Just Read
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

This is one of my all-time favorites and I read it again just to keep it fresh. A timeless tale of poverty, starvation, survival and then success, and how the wheel of life keeps turning. Set in 19th century China, Wang Lung, a poor farmer, awakes on his wedding day. His wife, O-lan, a former slave in the house of a great lord, is homely and silent, but makes an excellent wife. The couple work the land and their efforts are rewarded. Until the drought… with great simplicity but beauty Buck pulls back the veil on peasant life in China, the beliefs and customs, while addressing human frailties that transcend all cultures and countries. Four stars.

COTT: Working to keep us safe

Laurie Kelley February 9, 2009

I just received another issue of the COTT Washington Update, Vol. 11 No. 1. It’s one of the most intelligent reads you can get in the hemophilia community. COTT is the Committee of Ten Thousand, a national nonprofit that was formed in response to the HIV infections of the 80s. It helped to bring closure and settlement to the community affected by HIV. But its work wasn’t done then; it has since become our nation’s watchdog for the blood supply.

Below is just a quick sample of what’s in the Update. Note the scope of topics, the relevance to hemophilia, the timeliness of it:

1. …the unexpected withdrawal of Tom Daschle, the White House candidate for Secretary of Health and Human Services, [was a setback to health reform] who was to have also directed the Office on Health Care Reform in the White House.

2. The current economic stimulus bill drafted by the House Democratic majority includes an $80 billion for Medicaid, the same for education, and smaller amounts for unemployment insurance, COBRA costs, law enforcement, military construction and homeland security.

3. A disturbing part of the Stimulus bill language was proposed, in a section supporting outcomes- or evidence-based medical research, being called ‘comparative effectiveness’ when applied to pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. The language allowed government bodies such as the National Institutes of Health to convene expert panels to review results of such studies, and in effect endorse the winners – only those most effective – with dire ramifications for others. The problem is that cost is factored into such rankings, and while as we know new products from fractionators increase safety, they may not currently reflect improvements in cost-effectiveness. Moreover, should a panel select one brand of factor over others, there is no built-in assurance as yet that the need for all factor products to be available to all patients would be guaranteed. Alerted to this by the fractionators’ association, PPTA, COTT and others wrote to relevant committee chairs in the Senate to soften this language.

4. Vermont: The Health Department office operating the Medicaid program in Vermont contracted for hemophilia pharmacy effective November 1. Although the regional and national associations were not aware of this plan until less than a week before, HTCs in the state were contacted in advance. The regional association convened a number of input conference calls, and COTT as well as others urged that the MASAC-approved Standards of Service document be shared with that office, and that Vermont be asked to respond whether its terms were met in the contract.

5. New York: The state Medicaid office has announced contracts for hemophilia pharmacy – multiple contracts, so concern about the sole sourcing actions in other states is not present, however the process exempts 340b HTCs (Hemophilia Treatment Centers which sell factor). Thus, those currently using one of the state’s centers can continue there; those in more rural areas must however subscribe to one or the other of the state’s new contractors, regardless of whatever more hemophilia-focused pharmacies they have been using.

6. The Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability met in December. The only topic of discussion was “The Responsibility of Blood and Plasma Centers to Donor and Public Health.” In COTT testimony we pointed out that conspicuously omitted from these concerns was recipient health… perhaps because the blood banking community has no direct contact with recipients but can track and work to improve care provided to, and health of, their donors.

7. Wellpoint has continued to expand the number of states in which its for-profit subsidiary payers (Blue Cross) require clients with hemophilia to use either an HTC or its own mail-order pharmacy in Indiana; the total now stands at 10 of their 14 states.

This is just a sample of the breathtaking information and vast scope of COTT’s activities. The volunteers and committee members work hard to stay on top of anything related to blood safety. While many in the community use recombinant products and think this doesn’t apply to them, COTT also monitors all activities regarding hemophilia business, such as the narrowing of choice, forced homecare switching, and research.

This summer marks COTT’s 20th year. It’s planning the construction of an AIDS/Hemophilia memorial, and the celebration of COTT’s 20th Anniversary this summer with an event in Washington.

COTT writes: “Out of the ashes of the devastation of 10,000 lives emerged a grassroots advocacy group that has brought the hemophilia community a federal advisory committee now in its 12th year, a $600 million relief bill, and plans for a national blood policy, maximizing blood safety well into the 21st century.”

Please subscribe to this important newsletter, for your child’s future and current health safety.

www.cott1.org

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