Medicaid

Members of our team helped Colorado's community mental health system and other stakeholders convince the Colorado Legislature to approve a statewide Medicaid capitation system, which improved access to services, improved outcomes, and saved taxpayers millions of dollars per year.

The Challenge: Opponents to the new system claimed that Medicaid capitation would force providers to deny services to existing consumers and new consumers to avoid depleting their annual budgets under such a system.

The Solution: To overcome this objection, we enlisted the support of CBS journalist Mike Wallace and Colorado's Governor Romer to appear in a series of public service announcements that promoted a toll-free number and access to the state's community mental health system. We also launched an aggressive media relations campaign that helped educate taxpayers and stakeholders about the mental health system, including the needs of patients and the needs of clinics.

The Result: The public relations campaign generated more than $1 million in media coverage and free publicity which helped convince the state legislature that access to services would not be an issue under a revised system. The legislature approved the proposed Medicaid revisions. As a result, a record number of consumers have received services and millions of dollars have been saved and spent more productively. The effort earned state and national awards for its resourceful and creative advocacy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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