Statewide Organizer Robin Stelly, from the PA Health Access Network (PHAN), urged members of the Montgomery County CSP Committee to gather personal stories about experiences with Medicaid—good or bad—to send collectively to the state and federal legislators to save this important public health safety net.
PHAN is largest consumer advocacy group in PA working on healthcare for mental and physical health. They offer the best navigators in the state for people seeking help with healthcare and they are collecting stories from all individuals, families and providers who have experience with Medicaid.
“Stories are important,” Stelly said at the January 15th CSP meeting. “Changes in Congress are necessary. We have hope.”
Without billions of dollars that lobbyists have, Stelly pointed out that stories are where the average person can make major impacts with legislators.
Stelly said the HR1 Budget Reconciliation Bill was catastrophic but the full damaging effects of the bill won’t go into effect until January 2027. It cuts $1 trillion from insurance, mostly Medicaid which is the biggest heath care provider in the country.
“We have time to fight back,” said the state organizer. “In PA alone, 600,000 Pennsylvanians will lose health coverage.”
Medicaid Work Requirements, which start January 1, 2027, will put a huge strain on the Medicaid system. The system will break.
People will be told that Medicaid never worked - even though it did.
“The stories are the only thing to fight back with,” Stelly said. “We are not going to get billions of dollars to fight this fight. We could get a million stories about how great Medicaid is. We really need to show it is working in people’s lives. It’s not broken.”
Stories can be in writing or a video. They don’t have to be dramatic. They can be from the past. One example: A mother in a nursing home who ran out of money. Medicaid then paid the $12,000-a-month cost to live there. It’s the mother’s story and the child’s story. Stories can be from workers who provide for people who use Medicaid. Stelly said she will help collect stories.
To help people create their stories, PHAN has developed questionnaires. To access the questionnaires:
Medicaid Questionnaire
https://tinyurl.com/4yh6xvbj
This questionnaire is for anyone who uses Medicaid to access healthcare. It works to capture a complete picture of the value of Medicaid in people's lives.
Medicaid: A Family Lifeline
https://tinyurl.com/yc83z6as
This survey is for family members of people who rely on Medicaid for care, whether that care happens at home, in school, or in a nursing facility.
Pennie.com Questionnaire
https://tinyurl.com/mst3c993
PHAN is fighting to get Congress to lower the premiums at Pennie.com. If you buy insurance through Pennie.com and your premiums went up this year, this survey is for you.
