4022.0: Tuesday, November 14, 2000: 8:30 AM-10:00 AM

Establishing a Community Voice in Health Care Restructuring

Across the country, more and more nonprofit health organizations such as hospitals, HMOs and insurance companies are changing from nonprofit to for-profit status, or merging with other large institutions. These restructurings can have a profound affect on the quality and availability of services provided, particularly to vulnerable populations. The presenters will discuss legal and organizing strategies that communities groups have successfully used to protect health services during the sale or merger of community hospitals. Health Care For All is a Massachusetts based consumer advocacy organization that promotes fundamental health care reform to improve access. Health Law Advocates, Inc. (HLA) is a public interest law firm affiliated with Health Care For All. Among other things HLA and Health Care For All assist community coalitions whose local hospitals are changing owners. Health Care For All and HLA have developed legal hooks and organizing strategies to define and improve community health outcomes in the process of health care restructuring. The Philadephia Unemployment Project is a nonprofit organization that provides direct service and advocacy to low-income individuals and families. Its mission is social and economic justice; the goal of their health care project is to make health care a right of all people. Recently, for-profit Tenet Health Care Systems bought up one third of the hospitals in Philadephia. Ms. Tisdale worked with a community coalition to extract community benefits from the provider in this transaction
See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement.
Learning Objectives: Refer to the individual abstracts for learning objectives
Facilitator(s):Bob Constantino, MPH
8:30 AM"Choosing Healthplans All Together" A Game to Assess Public Values and Preferences for Health Insurance
Andrea K. Biddle, PhD, Glenn Klipp, Marion Danis, MD
8:45 AMCommunty Benefits: Protecting Health Care Resources and the Community Voice
Bob Marra, Barbara Fain
9:00 AMHow to represent community coalitions in the sale or merger of local hospital
Laurie A. Martinelli, JD, MPH, Marcia Hams
9:15 AMHow to Win Community Benefit Commitments When Your Nonprofit Hospital Becomes For-Profit
Evonne Tisdale, Renee Markus Hodin, JD
9:30 AMMaking assurance real: Program and policy advantages of an in-house non-profit
Bruce A. Parsons, MPA
9:45 AMDeveloping Consumer Reports To Promote Informed Choice of Medicaid Managed Care Plans
Fiona D Smith, MPH
Sponsor:Community Health Planning and Policy Development
Cosponsors:Health Administration; Social Work; Socialist Caucus

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA