As a community leader, Health Foundation of South Florida wanted you to see this action alert by Community Catalyst on supporting new funding to close the health care coverage gap. Community Catalyst, a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to quality affordable health care for all, works in partnership with national, state and local consumer organizations, policymakers, and foundations to provide leadership and support to change the health care system so it serves everyone - especially vulnerable members of society.

Next week, the White House will release the president’s proposed 2017 Budget. It will include a powerful incentive for the remaining 19 states to close the coverage gap. But his proposal is not enough; Congress must support this provision for states to reap the benefit.

On the day the president’s budget is released (currently, we are expecting this to happen on February 9th), please take these actions to support new funding to close the coverage gap:

1. Call your Congressional delegation. Let them know you support the president’s proposal to provide full federal funding for three years for all states that close the coverage gap. Even if your Congressional delegation is strongly opposed to the Affordable Care Act, let them know how much your state would benefit from this provision. You can use these talking points.
   
   
2. Call your Governor’s office. Let them know why you support the president’s proposal. If your Governor’s office supports closing the coverage gap, ask them to weigh in with your congressional delegation too. You can use these talking points.
   
   
3. Promote stories of those in the coverage gap. This is an opportunity to promote the stories of people who are caught in the gap. Here is a sample LTE calling on your local Member of Congress to support the president’s proposal; it has a space to plug in the story of one of their constituents who is caught in the coverage gap.

More Information about the President’s Proposal

• The president is proposing to reimburse each state for the full cost of the newly-eligible for the first three years after it closes the coverage gap – regardless of when it closes the gap. That means states that close the coverage gap this year, next year, or any time in the future would get as good a deal as states that closed the coverage gap on January 1, 2014.
  
  
• The experience of states that have closed the coverage gap already shows that this is a fiscal win. As states draw down billions of federal dollars to help cover the uninsured, they reduce their own spending on the costs of treating the uninsured - resulting in budget savings. States like Kentucky saved money while providing health security to more working families.
  
  
• Unless Congress acts to ensure that the remaining 19 states benefit from three years of full federal financing of the newly eligible, they will have to pay five percent of the costs of the newly eligible in 2017, six percent in 2018, seven percent in 2019, and then ten percent in 2020 and beyond.
  
  
• While state projections have shown that state savings would likely still outweigh the state costs, the president’s proposal makes a sweet deal even sweeter.
  

Please contact Katherine Howitt ([email protected]) with any questions. Thank you for your continued work to close the coverage gap!