Policy, Grass Roots Support, and Collaboration: Arizona’s Ongoing Efforts to Improve Access to Care and Coverage

The Cover Arizona Coalition marks its five-year anniversary in FY2018 with recognition as Public Policy Health Care Leader of the Year from the Arizona Capitol Times. Three reports providing care and coverage insights are released. Two policy wins are notched at the state legislature. A landmark conference links health care and community health.

The Cover Arizona Coalition’s 700 members emerged from a dramatically shortened enrollment period with strong numbers, especially given significantly reduced federal marketing and navigator expenditures. Vitalyst worked to cover some of the marketing gap through earned and purchased media that delivered over 7.5 million targeted impressions. The Coalition delivered growth in KidsCare, Marketplace and AHCCCS enrollment, all of which contributed to Arizona’s uninsured rate falling from 17.1% to 10%. The work did not go unnoticed. Arizona Capitol Times formally recognized the Cover Arizona Coalition as the Public Policy Health Care Leader of the Year for 2018.

Vitalyst published three Spark Reports this fiscal year:

• The Value of Prevention: How the Prevention and Public Health Fund Invests in Arizona’s Health (July 2017) – An analysis of the $9 million annual investment that comes to Arizona through the Affordable Care Act for preventative efforts ranging from vaccinations to reduced tobacco use and opioid abuse.
• The Affordable Care Act and Arizona’s Medicaid Program: Where We’ve Been and Where We Could be Headed (July 2017)  – an overview of the historical impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Arizona’s Medicaid Program and concludes with questions that stakeholders will need to consider.
• Online Healthcare: Connecting Patients to the Care They Need Through Telemedicine (October 2017) – a look at Arizona’s telemedicine strategies for transforming healthcare delivery, improving quality, and addressing workforce shortages statewide.

Vitalyst publicly advocated for the merits of two healthcare-related bills which passed into state law: HB2324 creates voluntary certification for Community Health Workers and sets up a positive future for an important healthcare workforce; HB2197 helps develop new licensure application criteria to better assess Arizona’s provider workforce supply. On the federal level, Vitalyst worked with Arizona’s Congressional delegates to advocate for protection of progress linked to the Affordable Care Act, and developed a policy roadmap to help guide stakeholders when implementing and evaluating AHCCCS’ 1115 Waiver and work requirements.