Georgia Health Policy Center
History
Timeline (PDF)
In 1993, amid an increased federal emphasis on health care policy initiatives, numerous state governments launched companion initiatives to search for better ways to promote access to health care. Georgia was engaged in this effort, as then-Gov. Zell Miller formed the Governor's Commission on Health Care, to advise on health care reform in the state.
Federal health care reform efforts met with only mixed success, however, and Georgia’s new commission shifted its focus as well. Recognizing the need for constant monitoring of Georgia's health policy efforts, the Governor's Commission on Health Care, in 1995, transitioned into another organization, the Georgia Coalition for Health.
The Georgia Coalition for Health was comprised of representatives of consumers, providers, business and government, all of whom were interested in improving health and health care. Members included eight representatives from each of the following constituency groups:
- Georgia Health Decisions, a non-partisan, non-profit citizen-based research organization.
- Georgia Healthcare Providers Council, an organization comprised of major provider-based associations.
- Georgia Business Forum on Health, an affiliate of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
- Georgia's public sector, a group of individuals representing state and local governments and health-related agencies and institutions.
Although they were not officially part of the Coalition, philanthropic organizations played a major role from the outset, as the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation funded special projects.
Each segment of the Coalition - government, provider, consumer and business - brought unique perspective and different agendas to the table. From its earliest days, a strength of the organization was building consensus among diverse interests.
The Georgia Health Policy Center was initially established as the research arm of the Georgia Coalition for Health. The center's responsibilities included conducting research on health care issues identified by the Coalition Board, providing the Coalition with unbiased information and facilitating interaction of Coalition members to formulate health policy recommendations for Georgia.
Coalition board member Dr. Jim Cooney housed the Georgia Health Policy Center at Georgia State University's College of Health and Human Sciences, where he served as dean. Former Georgia Commissioner of Human Resources Jim Ledbetter was chosen as the Center's first director.
From 1995-1998, the work of the Georgia Coalition for Health and the Georgia Health Policy Center continued to receive the support of Gov. Miller, who looked for ways to reduce state Medicaid spending – in part as a way to help fund increased education initiatives. The Governor's Medicaid Reform Project put the Georgia Health Policy Center on the state and federal radar. For the first time, the Coalition was thrust into the spotlight to gather input from citizens and stakeholders who wanted their voices heard.
Public meetings, facilitated by the Georgia Health Policy Center, were held to gather input from all stakeholders. The Center garnered input from more than 6,200 Georgians – and also compiled extensive information on other states' Medicaid reform experiences. It was the most comprehensive and inclusive effort conducted by any state entity to incorporate both rigorous research and public input on the subject of Medicaid. GHPC facilitated consensus among the board of the Georgia Coalition for Health, and made recommendations for Medicaid reform, to provide better health for more people at less cost. In 1997, the Coalition released its findings in a 65-page report aptly named "Directions for Change."
Change continued at the Center as well; in 1998, the Georgia Coalition for Health faded out of the spotlight and the Center found a new administrative home in Georgia State's School of Policy Studies. Its recommendations from the landmark Medicaid report led to critical streams of work, examining populations vulnerable to Medicaid Reform – specifically the long-term care, rural and child populations.
The "Directions for Change" recommended that Georgia seek to gain greater efficiency in its long-term care system. Long-term care takes up the largest percentage of the Medicaid budget and over the next 30 years, more people are going to need long-term care.
The Georgia Health Policy Center worked, from 1998-2001, on more than eight research projects to inform long-term care reform. One key finding from this research was that frail elderly people are moved back and forth between nursing home facilities and hospitals frequently over short periods of time diminishing quality of life and driving up costs.
The Center also compared, from 2000-2004, the cost and quality of Georgia's long-term care programs, such as nursing home facilities to other options including community-based care. The findings are helping Georgia plan its long-term care reform efforts, and prepare for the needs of the state as its baby boomers mature into the frail elderly.
"Directions for Change" also showed that health care systems in rural areas were more fragile and vulnerable to changes in Medicaid than their urban counterparts, and recommended technical assistance to help health care providers remain competitive in a reformed health care market and preserve access to quality health care at the community level.
From 1997 to 2001, the Center implemented an intensive, grassroots technical assistance program in 40 rural Georgia communities. The Center worked in partnership with these communities to assess their local needs, makes plans to address their needs and to support networking activities necessary to implement their plans.
In 2001, the Center's work had grown in scale to link counties together in a regional network. A partnership was forged between Georgia's Office of Rural Health Services, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Philanthropic Collaborative for a Healthy Georgia and the Georgia Health Policy Center to support nine, multi-county, regional networks throughout the state. By 2003, the Center was working in 70 of Georgia's 159 counties to improve health status and access to health care at the community level.
Today, the Georgia Health Policy Center continues to translate its learnings from a decade of community partnerships, an it continues its grassroots work, applying lessons nationally to assist networks in more than 39 states.
Public input into Medicaid reform revealed that all stakeholders did not want children to be negatively impacted by any changes. The Georgia Health Policy Center quickly went to work with a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant called Healthy Kids, a national initiative to improve the health of school-age children.
The Center's baseline work with Healthy Kids served as a foundation to inform the design of PeachCare for Kids, Georgia's State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP). At the Governor's request, the Georgia Health Policy Center worked initially with the Coalition and four additional committees to design and promote what is today one of the most successful S-CHIP programs in the country in terms of enrollment.
Through outreach and evaluation of PeachCare for Kids and school health and childhood obesity, the Center continues to play a major role in Child Health throughout Georgia.
The Georgia Health Policy Center partners with public and private grant makers to leverage resources, empower local communities and address priority health care issues.
In 1999, the Philanthropic Collaborative for a Healthy Georgia, which is administratively housed at the Georgia Health Policy Center, brings Georgia foundations together to better understand and explore the health-related challenges facing Georgia and to seek opportunities to form partnerships to address these challenges. To date, the Collaborative has supported projects related to school health, rural health and cancer. Today, the Collaborative is engaged in an analysis of the childhood obesity problem in Georgia.
The research and analysis leading up to "Directions for Change," identified growing concern about the increasing numbers of Georgians who have no form of health insurance, public or private. Since 1995, the increase in the number of uninsured Georgians, especially the working uninsured, has climbed steadily to more than 1.5 million
In 2002, the Governor's office received a State Planning Grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to provide the state with resources to collect data for formulating and evaluating policy options to reduce the number of uninsured. In 2004, Georgia was only one of nine states awarded an additional State Planning Grant to plan pilot projects to reduce the number of uninsured.
The Governor's Office asked the Georgia Health Policy Center to implement both of these grants. Today, Georgia is identified by AcademyHealth as a national model for the implementation of State Planning Grants for the Uninsured.
The American health care system continues to face many challenges; no other topic of debate affects the lives of so many and requires such large amounts resources. And the Georgia Health Policy Center, now with more than a decade of experience, is at work nationwide, focusing on solutions to these tough issues, from insurance coverage and long-term care to children’s health and the development of rural and urban health systems. The Georgia Health Policy Center’s qualitative and quantitative research findings continue to help policy makers arrive at informed decisions about health policy and programs.
In this endeavor, the Center welcomes the support and interest of public officials and philanthropic benefactors, and invites inquiries from communities and organizations working to promote better health.