Governor Martin O'Malley recently signed an Executive Order to create Maryland’s Virginia I. Jones Commission on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD). The Commission is directed to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of ADRD in Maryland and make recommendations to the Governor for a State plan to address the needs of individuals with ADRD, their families and caregivers. The State Commission will be comprised of elected officials, representatives of academic institutions, healthcare professionals, and State officials and will include family members and persons with ADRD.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive brain disease that currently affects 86,000 Marylanders and is the sixth leading cause of death in America. It is the only cause of death among the top 10 without a way to prevent, cure or even slow its progression.
Congratulations to the Alzheimer’s Association and everyone who championed this effort.
The Maryland Health Benefit Exchange is moving to the next stage of implementation. The Exchange has made recommendations to the Governor and Maryland General Assembly on a number of policy issues, including financing of the Exchange, essential health benefits, and market structure. It is expected that many of these recommendations will be incorporated into a bill from the Exchange this upcoming session. To see the report in full, check the Exchange’s website at http://dhmh.maryland.gov/healthreform/exchange/reports.html.
The Maryland Women's Coalition for Health Care Reform is holding a health reform educational forum on Monday, January 23rd from 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Annapolis (click for more information). This educational forum and Advocacy in Action session, open to the public, will feature Carolyn Quattrocki from the Governor's Office of Health Care Reform, DHMH Secretary Joshua Sharfstein, Jennifer Goldberg from the Legal Aid Bureau and Health Benefit Exchange Board member, experts from the National Women's Law Center, and Public Policy Partner’s Robyn Elliott. To attend, RSVP to Leni Preston at leni@mdchcr.org.
For those of you who dread the hours of waiting at bill hearings during Session, fear no more. The State Complex buildings are now equipped with free Wi-Fi for the public. When your laptop or iPad searches for connections, it should find GUESTMGA. When you click on that link, you will get a screen with a terms-of-use agreement you should read, then enter the user name “guest” and then the password “mdga”. You will then be connected and can get a little work done while you wait. Yay for technology!
Been hearing a lot about this always-heated debate? Want to know what the maps being discussed look like? To see the proposed 2011 plan online, go the redistricting page on the General Assembly’s website. When next in Annapolis, you can see large color maps by visiting the Redistricting Room on the ground floor of the Department of Legislative Services building.
There have been numerous movements among state agency personnel, including:
Jackie Lichter from the Maryland Higher Education Commission to the office of House Speaker Mike Busch, taking the position formerly held by John Favazza who has moved into the private sector;
Jill Porter from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations;
Erin Dorrien from the Department of Legislative Services (staffing the House Appropriations Committee) to the Maryland Health Care Commission; and
Kym Nelson to the position of Chief of Staff to Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation Secretary Alex Sanchez.
Former State School Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick has been appointed to the board of director of Maryland Family Network.
Public Policy Partners congratulates Dr. Kulleni Gebreyes, Medical Director at the Delmarva Foundation, and Jay Wolvovsky, President and CEO of Baltimore Medical System, both of whom have been appointed to the Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council's Health Care Delivery Reform Subcommittee.
Congratulations to Public Policy Partners’ Ann Ciekot for being elected to the Board of Directors for the Maryland Government Relations Association, a professional organization for lobbyists and public policy specialists to encourage the professional development and appropriate conduct of persons working in the field of government relations.
