As we welcome the cooler weather of winter, I think about those who will be struggling to stay warm and pay their winter heating bills. Just a few weeks ago, two men died in their Kennesaw home because they couldn’t afford to pay their power bill. Georgia Power shut off their power, and with temperatures dropping near freezing, they borrowed a generator from a neighbor to keep the electricity on. Unfortunately, generators create carbon monoxide – a silent killer.

This is heartbreaking and happens far too often. Stories like this are the ones that make our work here at Georgia Watch so critical. The ability of someone to afford their utility bills can result in a life or death situation.

Georgia Watch advocates tirelessly for Georgia Power’s 2.3 million customers and Atlanta Gas Light Company’s 1.5 million customers who are often put in this type of situation. We work for lower, fair utility rates, and we stand up for residential and small business customers. We speak up for everyday Georgians, not special interests. The utilities and large customers are well represented by lobbyists and lawyers in the halls of the capitol and at the Public Service Commission.

Throughout 2011, Georgia Watch achieved many victories for consumers Learn more about Georgia Watch and its accomplishments here.

Hospitals are the central component of Georgia’s vast and complicated health care system. As key health care providers that offer a wide range of services, these hospitals have a unique opportunity to help reduce access disparities for vulnerable populations – particularly those that are low-income, uninsured and underinsured. Hospitals are able to address the barriers to affordable care that confront uninsured, underinsured and low-income consumers by working within their facility, the community and lawmakers to enact policies and create programs that will better the fiscal and physical health of their hospitals and patients. Through these programs, hospitals are able to boost the overall fiscal and physical health of its community.

We recently authored a report titled “Georgia nonprofit hospitals and the vulnerable patient,” which provides an analysis of Georgia nonprofit hospitals and community benefit programs. Read the report here.

Approximately 82 percent of Georgia’s hospitals are nonprofit entities, meaning these facilities have particular obligations to their communities due to the tax revenue the community forgoes. The most important way a nonprofit hospital can begin to return the value of its tax-exemption to the community is through direct financial assistance to low-income patients. Well-designed community benefit programs go beyond the hospital walls and into the community itself. Information about community benefit programs are to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) via IRS Form 990′s Schedule H, which requires hospitals to disclose key quantitative and qualitative information. Unfortunately, for Fiscal Year 2010, the IRS deemed this disclosure optional. To date, only 24 of Georgia’s nonprofit hospitals have completed this form in a publicly-accessible manner.

In October 2011, we issued a letter to the IRS voicing our concern over the IRS decision and its potential impact on patients. You can read the letter here.

The Georgia Hospital Accountability Project broadens accessibility to affordable, safe and effective care at the state’s hospitals for uninsured, underinsured and low-income Georgians by promoting state-level regulations, advocating for hospital policy changes and promoting consumer empowerment through research and analysis, the publication of relevant reports, the engagement of the state’s hospitals and consumer education. Georgia Watch also actively engages key state-level stakeholders, hospital representatives, community leaders and lawmakers in dialogue on these topics.

Highlighting and combating the challenges of low-income, uninsured and underinsured Georgians at hospitals has long been a top priority of Georgia Watch. Since 2007, Georgia Watch has evaluated issues of access and affordability throughout the state, and has conducted detailed analyses of fiscal practices and community benefit offerings of six of the state’s key safety net facilities. In 2009, the organization officially launched its Georgia Hospital Accountability Project.

Through this effort, Georgia Watch:

• Conducts extensive research on community benefit programs and financial assistance policies at nonprofit hospitals, and regularly meets with hospital leaders to discuss challenges to and opportunities for programs within their communities
• Often authors white papers and reports on crucial topics, including an examination of the affect of the new health law on hospitals, the cost of care in Georgia and the need for adequate language services at hospitals. In 2010, Georgia Watch released a report detailing financial access at hospitals within the metropolitan Atlanta area, which delineated other barriers to care for those who are uninsured and underinsured, such as transportation and health literacy
• Actively works with the media, and authors regular op-eds and blog posts dedicated to the project’s core topics
• Engages consumers in its work, and in 2010, surveyed approximately 900 consumers on issues of affordable access at their local hospitals
• Assists numerous consumers on their particular issues, including billing discrepancies, a denial of financial assistance and finding a health care home
• Educates lawmakers, policy makers and advocates on issues of access at hospitals
• Hosts the Health Policy Fellowship, which trains emerging policy leaders on key access and affordability issues

Georgia Watch’s Hospital Accountability Project also actively advocates for transparency and accountability in regards to patient safety at our hospitals. Georgia is one of 22 states that currently do not require public disclosure of hospital-acquired infection rates, which leaves consumers in the dark as to which hospitals are safe and which are not. Georgia Watch is leading the effort to ensure safe care by convening national, state and local stakeholders that will analyze and recommend recourses to make certain patient care is not harmful.

June 16, 2011

Georgia Watch, the Campaign for Better Care and Piedmont Healthcare are proud to host “Town Hall Conversation: Safely and Effectively Navigating Healthcare Today” on Tuesday, June 28, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. The event will kick off the national Campaign for Better Care’s Healthy Hospital Initiative, which aims to improve patient safety at hospitals and bring about greater clarity when navigating the healthcare market. Read more

June 7, 2011

Many Georgia hospitals aren’t doing enough to ensure accessibility for non-English speakers, according to a report (pdf) released this week by Georgia Watch’s Hospital Accountability Project. Most hospitals throughout the state are required to follow basic language accessibility regulations set forth by Title V1 of the Civil Rights Act, the Affordable Care Act, and the Indigent Care Trust Fund. Read more

April 29, 2011

In an effort to improve patient safety and reduce health care-acquired infections (HAIs), Georgia Watch is joining the national Campaign for Better Care through their Healthy Hospital Initiative. This initiative will act in support of the federal Partnership for Patients, a new public-private partnership through the Department of Health and Human Services aimed at improving the quality, safety and affordability of health care for all Americans. Read more

April 19, 2011

The Atlanta Journal Constitution published a troubling investigative article this weekend about the rising costs of hospital bills and the huge markups that have become routine at both nonprofit and for-profit hospitals. The piece includes a quote from Georgia Watch Hospital Accountability Director Holly Lang, who last year released a critical report detailing markups and charity care at metro Atlanta hospitals.

To read the AJC article, click here. For more information about Georgia Watch’s Hospital Accountability Project, click here.

April 15, 2011

The 2011 session was another slow-moving, drawn out session that has become typical in recent years. Once again, the state is facing declining revenues, which made setting a budget a difficult process. Overall, consumer-friendly measures saw little real action, while several potentially harmful measures moved quickly. Here is a wrap-up of some of the consumer issues that Georgia Watch was following in 2011. Read more

March 30, 2011

Holly Lang, Georgia Watch’s Hospital Accountability Project Director, appeared last week on GPB’s Lawmakers to discuss current health-related state legislation, as well as the impact of the new federal healthcare law on Georgians.

Click here for video of the full interview.

February 15, 2011

A recently filed bill poses a real threat to the consumer protections that exist in the Georgia market for health insurance. House Bill 47, which was introduced by Representative Matt Ramsey (R-Peachtree City), would permit out of state insurance policies to be sold in Georgia. By allowing out of state insurance policies, we’re substituting the laws that our legislature has enacted and our insurance commissioner enforces with regulations from another state where Georgia voters have no say.

Read more

January 27, 2011

We here at Georgia Watch are concerned about recent attempts by state leaders to scale back vital health care programs for our most vulnerable citizens at a time when they are critically needed.

The move began with Arizona Governor Brewer’s request to the federal government for a waiver from stability protections that prevent states from restricting eligibility levels for the Medicaid program. In response, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s spokesperson was quoted by Bloomberg news organization earlier today that while the Governor has not offered specific cuts, he “would happily work on such a proposal.”

“Rolling back eligibility among those already enrolled in our state Medicaid program essentially would strip medical coverage for those who are the youngest, oldest, and the sickest within our state,” stated Joann Yoon, Associate Policy Director for Child Health with Voices for Georgia’s Children.

“Medicaid especially is essential at a time like the present when many face unemployment, which also means a loss of employer-sponsored coverage.” Read more

December 14, 2010

Spurred by poor health indicators that show a need for Georgia to re-evaluate its public health priorities, the Public Health Commission recently concluded that an independent Department of Public Health should be formed, and its primary charge would be overseeing the health of all Georgians. The commission, a nine-member panel of industry professionals, was convened through an act of legislation passed in 2009, and its recommendations were presented through a report to the governor, lieutenant governor and state General Assembly. Read more

November 18, 2010

On Tuesday, Georgia Watch partnered with Tift Regional Medical Center to host a consumer workshop entitled “Affording Hospital Care,” aiming to educate patients and their families on the best ways to manage their hospital debt.

Two sessions were held: a lunch session at noon and an evening session at 6 p.m. At each session, consumers were given information on the best ways to afford their hospital care and financial assistance available to them from the hospital. Read more

November 7, 2010

Last Tuesday, a ballot measure that would have infused an estimated $80 million into the state’s trauma network failed by a narrow margin – 53 percent to 47 percent.

Passage of this measure would have dedicated funding from annual car tag fees to beefing up emergency care at hospitals around our state. The proposed amendment to our state’s constitution would require a $10 fee to be included with other charges during annual registration of certain motor vehicles. The failure of this amendment’s passage could tip the balance between life and death for any Georgian. Read more