Recent Accomplishments

Since its founding in 2006, the Maryland Women’s Coalition for Health Care Reform has:

  • Worked with the O’Malley Administration, legislators and our partners to gain passage of an essential piece of health care reform – the Health Benefit Exchange Act of 2011. The law includes important amendments proposed by the Coalition.  Learn more.
  • Provided momentum and leadership to win passage of important legislation in Maryland’s General Assembly to expand access to health care and improve its delivery.
  • Created the Cover All Kids-100% Campaign to provide every child in Maryland with the health care they deserve.  To date, this has resulted in the passage of three critical bills: (1) The Kids First Act, (2) the Foster Kids Coverage Act, (3) HB 500 – the sharing of eligibility and enrollment information in Baltimore Public Schools  
  • Worked with the Department of Health and Public Hygiene, local health departments and others to see that those served by the public health system receive the health care they need and deserve.   To date the Coalition has made fact-finding visits to seven local health departments (Anne Arundel, Baltimore City, Calvert, Howard, Kent, Montgomery, and Talbot) and shared the issues of concern with the state’s policy makers and legislators.
  • Participated with our state and national partners in events on Capitol Hill and around Maryland to highlight the need for health care reform now.
  • Created an effective and expanding alliance with individuals and organizations throughout Maryland.
  • Established communications tools to inform our members and the public about health care reform issues, policies, and legislation and to encourage effective advocacy at the grassroots level.
  • Joined Melanies March on the final leg of their journey from Philadelphia to Capitol Hill.  Watch the final event.

Past Events

To engage and inform our members the Maryland Women’s Coalition for health Care Reform has organized a number of events:

  • (l. to r. – Beth Sammis, Lisa Codispoti, Anne Kasper, Leni Preston)Reform Party and Bazaar (2010) – Seventy members of the Coalition, including 13 member organizations, met on Saturday June 5th for the first of our educational forums on the new federal health care reform law. We thank all those who participated and especially the following:

Our speakers: Lisa Codispoti, Senior Counsel with Reform Matters, National Women’s Law Center: Health Care Reform: What Will Change In The U.S.  ; Beth Sammis, Maryland’s Acting Insurance Commissioner: Health Care Reform: How Maryland’s Insurance Administration Will Make It Work For You ; and Coalition Chair, Anne Kasper: Health Care Reform: What It Means For Maryland Families, Women, Children and Seniors

The exhibitors who donated a portion of their proceeds to benefit the Coalition: Toby Gordon Designs; Ann Leonard Potter; Phyllis Meyerson Treasures; Ann Sanderoff-Walker Design Fabrications, LLC; Jill Stern Wearable Art; Meena Tharmaratnam, Ibhana Creations, Inc.; and Sally Tom, Stoplight Knits  

Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need for their unwavering support our programs.

  • Senator Barbara Mikulski, wore the Coalition’s “Health Care. Get It.” pin, at President Obama’s Town Hall Meeting in Wheaton last month.  She was joined by Coalition Vice-Chair, Leni Preston, and Uma Ahluwalia, Montgomery County’s Director of Health and Human Services. 
  • Leadership Forum (2007) – Dr. Susan F. Wood, the former Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health and Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Women’s Health, was the keynote speaker.
  • Partnership Meeting (2008) – This event brought together many of the Coalition’s members to discuss the status of health care reform in Maryland and the role of grassroots advocacy in bringing about positive reforms.  State Senator Rob Garagiola served as the keynote speaker.
  • Speakout for Health Care Reform (2009) – The event, held in Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, highlighted the devastating impact of cuts in state aid to local health departments and the importance of federal health care reform efforts. Speakers included public health officials and citizens who shared their experiences with the health care system.