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June 2013

“THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.”

~ Arthur Kaufman, MD, UNMHSC Vice Chancellor of Community Health

Vision 2020 Partners “Rev It Up” to Help Communities Prepare for Health Insurance Enrollment and Medicaid Expansion Starting January 2014.

Vision 2020 Community Partners is a group made up of community and university partners committed to the goal of Vision 2020.
“New Mexico will make more progress towards improving health and health disparities than any other state by 2020.”

The Partners have been meeting monthly to map out ways to support programs, schools, departments and communities to meet the challenge of Medicaid expansion and health insurance enrollment, beginning in January, 2014.

The group has invited topic experts to share the latest developments at the national and state level, and “brainstormed” about innovative ways to help communities meet the challenge of fast approaching deadlines, limited funds, and large numbers of people needing education, outreach and assistance. To address the issue of health literacy, language and cultural barriers, the group trained in message mapping, and reviewed existing information resources and methods. Plans to provide essential support vary widely, from training medical students to educate and advocate for patients’ to setting up community forums to offer public information. Most recently, the group selected the best New Mexico-specific education tools and mapped out solutions to address additional challenges faced by specific population groups, like rural residents and people with limited reading ability and/or computer skills.

“However one feels about health care reform, all of us will be telling our children and grandchildren that we were there at the beginning, and watched history being made.”
  ~ Karen Armitage, MD, Vision 2020 Initiative.