[Note: today's guest blog is by Deborah Banda, State Director, AARP Massachusetts]

At AARP, we hear countless heartbreaking stories from our members who can’t get affordable health care coverage or who can’t afford their prescription drugs. We know that health care is among the most important and personal economic issues they face.

AARP is fighting for national health care reform that will:

• Protect guaranteed Medicare benefits.
• Crack down on insurance company abuses like denying affordable coverage because of age or medical history.
• Prevent anyone coming between a patient and their doctor.
• Help provide the long term care services and supports that people need to remain in their homes and communities as they age, and out of more expensive care.
• Lower prescription drug costs for seniors by closing the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, the dreaded “doughnut hole.”

This year alone, more than 300,000 Bay State seniors may face $3,610 in added out-of-pocket health care costs because of that Medicare coverage gap. AARP is fighting for national health reform that will close the doughnut hole so seniors can afford the medicine that keeps them healthy and out of more expensive care – so that they don’t have to make the painful choice between paying rent, putting food on the table or refilling a prescription.

Massachusetts has much to be proud of when it comes to health care reform, but for the sake of all Americans, there is much more work to be done. We have come too far to give up, and that’s a message Congress must hear.

As members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation think about how they will vote on national health care reform, let me point out what a “no” vote will mean.

A “no” vote on health reform is:

• A vote against strengthening Medicare.
• A vote against lowering prescription drug costs for seniors.
• A vote against giving American families and small businesses control over their health care from insurance companies.
• A vote against improving long-term care so Americans can live independently in their homes and communities.

The bills for national health care reform that have been passed by Congress contain many elements that have been embraced by both Democrats and Republicans in the past – including insurance market reforms, reducing prescription drug costs, and expanding home and community-based care.

We’re counting on our elected officials in Massachusetts to put their constituents’ health first, and vote “yes” for national health care reform.

HCFA adds: Thanks Deborah and AARP for all your work for quality coverage for seniors. We’ve set up a site, NationalHealthReformIsGoodForMA.org with tools so you can sign an electronic petition, or call or send an email to your Representative.

Now is the time. Click on the site, take action, and spread the word.

The Public Health Council is meeting on Wednesday, March 10 from 9-12 a.m. at their usual location, 250 Washington Street, Boston, 2nd Floor (meeting agenda (pdf)). Included on the agenda are a summary of H1N1 activities and an update on Limited Service Clinics in Massachusetts. When limited service clinics (like CVS’s MinuteClinics) were approved in Massachusetts in 2007, there was much concern about the potential of a lack of coordinated care. The presentation should offer some insight on how the clinics and patients have fared over the past two years.
-Mehreen Butt

This is National Patient Safety Week, being observed by health care providers, advocates, and others across the country.

To mark the week, Rosemary Gibson, an expert on health care quality issues, is speaking tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9) at HCFA on her new book, “The Treatment Trap,” which looks at overuse of medical care and the impact on consumers and on the health care system. Read an interview with Ms. Gibson in today’s Boston Globe. Tomorrow’s talk is 12-1pm at HCFA, 30 Winter Street, Boston, 9th floor. E-mail Deb Wachenheim to RSVP.

Looking at patient safety here in Massachusetts, there are many wonderful initiatives coordinated through the Department of Public Health that seek to ensure that Massachusetts residents are not harmed and, if they are harmed, that they have someplace to go for assistance. Many of these programs are at risk of being seriously cut or eliminated because of lack of funding.

The Governor’s H. 2 budget for next year released in January cut $1.5 million from DPH’s Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality. The office has substantial oversight authority. It oversees numerous programs dedicated to patient safety, including the Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety and Medical Error Reduction and the Drug Control Program. The Division of Health Care Quality within the Bureau oversees health care facilities throughout the state, including hospitals, nursing homes and home health providers. The office monitors care and responds to complaints about care that are received through its 24/7 consumer complaint hotline. They receive about 12,000 complaints per year. Many calls concern neglect and abuse, often of the elderly. The office investigates the most serious complaints- about 10% of the total. With more funding cuts, fewer investigations can take place.

This office has been crucial to the state in the successful implementation of Chapter 305, the 2008 Health Cost, Quality and Transparency Law. Massachusetts is one of the few states to have public reporting of both healthcare-associated infections and Serious Reportable Events. Come this summer, there will be a website listing all the gifts that pharmaceutical companies have given to prescribers. This transparency and commitment to public reporting takes funds. A $1.5M cut to the office will be detrimental in continuing the success that Massachusetts has had in reducing medical errors and protecting patients.

These are just some examples of the serious impacts that deep funding cuts to the Safety and Quality Bureau could have on Massachusetts residents. As we observe Patient Safety Week and celebrate the many helpful programs and services that DPH provides, we also recognize the need to strongly advocate on behalf of all of these programs to make sure Massachusetts continues to place a priority on improving patient safety.
-Mehreen Butt and Deb Wachenheim

Today, Health Care For All is releasing a powerful video in support of national health care reform. Massachusetts patients, doctors, students, consumer advocates, and representatives of small business and labor come together and talk about why we need national health reform and why it is good for the Commonwealth.

You can view the video above, and it is also available at NationalHealthReformIsGoodForMa.org, and our page with Community Catalyst, voteformyhealth.org

Listen to the emotional and personal stories of why we need national health reform from:

Rebecca Burch, MD, resident physician
Jack Evjy, MD, Massachusetts Medical Society
Gary Gottlieb, MD, President &CEO, Partners HealthCare
Lisa Renee Holderby, community health worker
Travis Howlette, student
Bob Master, MD, President & CEO, Commonwealth Care Alliance
Kristen McCosh, health care consumer & advocate, Boston Center for Independent Living
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Greater Boston Interfaith Organization
Maria Schiff, Director of Commonwealth Care, Network Health
Amy Slemmer, Executive Director, Health Care For All
Maria Velasquez, health care consumer
Celia Wcislo, 1199SEIU

This diverse group of individuals has a myriad of interests, and they have all coalesced around the goal of urging Congress to pass national health reform.

Contact your member of Congress today and urge them to pass national health reform. Use the button at left to go to the national petition, and then use this link for an easy guide and tool to contact your member of Congress.
-Lindsey Tucker

Massachusetts has been a national leader in expanding affordable coverage to children. Chapter 58 expanded MassHealth coverage to kids in families with income up to 3 times the poverty level, and the Children’s Medical Security Plan provides basic care to all children ineligible for other coverage at any income level. Our aggressive outreach programs have reduced the uninsurance rate for kids to below 2%, the best in the country, though there is still more work to be done.

Despite all that we have accomplished, national health reform would be good for children in Massachusetts, assuring continued coverage gains and enhancing the health of children in the Commonwealth.

National health reform would be good for Massachusetts because it would

• Extend the CHIP law to 2015, providing more federal funds for Massachusetts to cover kids in the MassHealth program;
• Expand funds to support school-based health clinics and community health centers;
• Prohibit co-payments and other cost sharing for all preventive care, screenings and immunizations recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics;
• Provide grant funds to expand Medicaid and CHIP outreach/enrollment efforts; and
• Distribute funds for childhood disease prevention, like childhood obesity.

In the midst of all the partisan rhetoric coming from both sides, it’s important to remember that there are real and concrete ways that health reform will help real people – especially children.
-Matt Noyes

Following a longstanding A Healthy Blog convention, we tag posts dealing with former Governor Romney’s spin cycle attempts to deal with the Massachusetts reform law under the health care humor category; besides, this gave me a good laugh.

Timothy Noah of Slate posted a quiz yesterday that juxtaposes a number of Obama and Romney statements on health reform. But the statements are, as we say in health research, de-identified. The challenge is to identify who said which. This is harder than it looks.

While we’re on the subject of Republicans, this video nicely sums up their approach to health reform:

PS: Want to do something quick and easy for national reform: Sign the online petition.
-Brian Rosman

Massachusetts has long been a leader in health reform, and oral health advocates have worked to ensure that oral health is a part of this important work. National health reform will be good for Massachusetts, because it will strengthen oral health in the Commonwealth.

Oral health is an essential part of overall health. Dental decay is caused by a bacterial infection in the mouth and is the most common chronic childhood disease. If left untreated, dental disease can impact other chronic health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes, and can interfere with basic life activities, such as eating, speaking, learning and working.

Fortunately, dental disease is almost entirely preventable with regular access to preventive measures such as dental screenings, information about prevention, fluoride treatments, and appropriate referral to a dentist.

A number of important provisions in the President’s bill will improve oral health in Massachusetts:

• Expand Kid’s Coverage: The federal reform bill guarantees oral health care for children covered under the Health Benefits Exchange. In Massachusetts, the Connector (our “Exchange”) only covers adults up to 3 times the poverty level, while children get MassHealth benefits that include dental coverage. Under national reform, low-income families up to 4 times the poverty level will be able to use credits in the exchange, which will include family coverage. This provision makes certain that the coverage for children will include critical oral health care.
• Strengthen oral health workforce: The President’s bill includes significant provisions to expand training programs for dentists and fund demonstration grants for midlevel providers. Access to care is dependent on a sufficient investment in the oral health workforce and these provisions will be particularly important for Massachusetts.
• Prioritize oral health prevention: National health reform includes strong oral health care prevention activities, including a public education campaign, demonstration grants for dental caries management, school-based dental sealant programs, allowing school-based health centers to use funds for dental programs and authorizing CDC grants to improve oral health.

Without support from around the country, it is easy for Massachusetts to move backwards on this important issue. Dental benefits have been cut in the past when the Commonwealth has had to cut spending, and the Governor’s budget for FY11 proposes significant cuts to oral health, including the elimination of MassHealth dental benefits for adults. By strengthening the principle that the mouth is part of the body, we will also remind the decision makers here at home about the importance of oral health.
-Christine Keeves

More information has come out on the DHCFP Chapter 305 Cost Trends hearings, to be held on March 16th, 18th and 19th.

First, the hearings have been moved to the Joseph P. Healey Library University Club, 11th floor, University of Massachusetts Boston. The hearings start at 9am each of the three days. Also, the list of hospitals, health plans, other providers, and municipalities who will be witnesses has been posted, along with the question they were asked to address. Groups were asked to answer in writing, and the testimony submitted will be posted online.

What’s not yet posted are the consumer groups that have been asked to testify, including Health Care For All. They will be presenting their oral testimony during the late afternoon of the first day of the hearings, Tuesday, March 16. Public testimony from those not specifically invited will be welcome on Friday, March 19.

The Division has set up an easy link to their website with information related to the research findings and the hearings: www.mass.gov/dhcfp/costtrends.
-Georgia Maheras

Last year, the Special Commission on Payment Reform unanimously approved a transition from fee-for-service to global payment (see our blog report). Since then, there has been a lot of discussion about global payment and how to get there. A recent paper published by the Commonwealth Fund, The Potential of Global Payment: Insights From the Field, provides us with information from health industry experts about global payment. They shared their successes, challenges, and ideas.

The report endorses global payment as a way to improve quality and save on costs. Utilizing a global payment system instead of a fee-for-service model may generate a 20%-30% reduction in costs while improving the quality of health care. Global payment systems vary and have been utilized successfully by a range of provider structures from larger hospital-dominated systems, primary care practices, and independent practice associations. Each has developed a slightly different way to deliver better care within a global payment structure.

Physicians using global payment arrangements felt that it enabled them to focus more on the needs of the patient instead of maximizing services rendered. Global payment allows for a wider availability of services not usually available under fee-for-service plans including phone consultations, web visits, provider-initiated outreach calls, home visits, patient education programs, and inpatient admission management.

A key point in the report is that the successful transition to global payment may depend significantly on a shift within health care management leadership. As one subject quoted in the report remarked, “Current provider and plan leadership is selected based on their ability to stop change.” The report suggests allowing for a multi-year transition period that can encompass the necessary structural changes as well as provider and patient education.

Experts also believe that the support of Medicare is critical to the success of a new payment plan. Physicians and hospitals make a number of business decisions based on the reimbursement levels they can expect from Medicare, including services offered. Because the health care needs of Medicare patients are so great, changes in this area also have the greatest potential for improving health care value.

Yet while a global payment system is an essential component of managing health care costs, it is not enough by itself to control costs. Experts agreed that payment reform is only the beginning of a health care solution. We need to improve care coordination, develop patient engagement tools and make sure the patient is the center of our health care system.
-Criselda Ruiz

National health reform will strengthen protections for Massachusetts consumers by eliminating lifetime caps, financial restrictions on how much an insurance company will pay for care. Under current Connector regulations, insurers may cap benefits for students and young people, and they may impose lifetime limits on benefits for “non-core services.”

This will be reversed under national health reform. Eliminating lifetime benefit caps is one of President Obama’s 8 “Core Health Insurance Consumer Protections” he’s insisting be a part of national reform.

Why is this important? Here is one mother’s story:

There are few things that seem more patently unfair to me than being denied health insurance coverage when you become too sick and too expensive for the insurance company to want to continue to insure. Lifetime caps enable a health insurance company to deny any further coverage once an individual has “cost” the insurance company a certain amount of money.

My family knows the injustice of lifetime caps first-hand. When our second child was diagnosed in utero with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a serious congenital heart defect in which the left side of the heart fails to develop, we had an 80/20 PPO insurance plan with a lifetime per person cap of $1 million. Before our child’s diagnosis, this seemed like an incredibly high maximum and a number that we would never be in danger of hitting. However, in order to save our son’s life, his doctors performed 3 open heart surgeries – the first at 3 days old, the second at 6 months, and the third at the age of 2. In addition, he has undergone several cardiac catheterizations, many inpatient and outpatient tests and procedures, and more trips to doctors and to the emergency room than I could begin to count.

By the time he was 4 years old, we were already halfway to his lifetime cap. What would have happened if we had hit that lifetime cap? Our insurance company would have terminated our child’s medical coverage – not for 6 months or a year but permanently.

We have been incredibly fortunate not to hit that lifetime cap for two reasons. First, our son exceeded all medical expectations and had relatively short hospital stays for each of his surgeries. In addition, feeding tubes, in-home nursing care, and other therapies that were expected were never needed. Additional surgeries and complications we were told were quite possible were not required. Second, we had the opportunity to switch to a new insurance plan without a lifetime cap shortly after our son’s 4th birthday. We were incredibly fortunate on both fronts.

Why speak out on this issue when we were not actually confronted with losing our child’s medical coverage? Because we came incredibly, frighteningly close to that happening. Because we look at other families who have faced that reality and know that it could have been us. Because lifetime caps are unjust and devastating to individuals and families. How can we allow insurance companies to tell their paying customers – “we guarantee you coverage but only up to a point, and if and when you get really sick, we can cut you off”?

National health care reform can help Massachusetts residents so that other families don’t have to live with the fear we did that our child would outlive his insurance coverage. I imagine families putting off tests and life-saving procedures, rationing needed medications, and waiting to act on new or worsening symptoms because they are trying to cut medical costs. Believe me when I say that living with a life-threatening condition is frightening enough without worrying about maxing out your insurance coverage.
Diane
American Heart Association Volunteer, and Affordable Care Today Member

Let Congress hear your voice. Click here to contact your Congressional Representative.

As a doctor, a patient, policy-maker and administrator of the state’s health care programs, Dr. JudyAnn Bigby is in one of the best positions to comment on why national health reform will be good for Massachusetts. So don’t just take our word for it – listen to hers.

In an op/ed in yesterday’s Standard-Times, the Secretary outlines the many reasons national health reform will benefit the Commonwealth.

She begins by reminding readers of the Governor’s consistent prioritization of health reform and, in particular, the affordability of health care for families and businesses. She stresses that our health reform has been a success - and that it will be stronger when national health care reform passes. Our families, seniors, businesses, state budget, and industries will benefit:

Federal health reform will allow us to build on the Commonwealth’s excellence in health care innovation. Both the Senate and House bills include grant opportunities for states to enhance adult protective services, reduce chronic disease, address health disparities, improve evidence-based disease prevention, develop early childhood visitation programs, and expand outreach and education for some Medicare beneficiaries. Federal health reform will also bolster the Commonwealth’s ongoing efforts to reform the health care payment system. This kind of innovation is critical to lowering health care costs.

Federal health care reform supports Massachusetts’ strong health care and academic industries. Massachusetts is home to some of the nation’s finest medical schools, hospitals, research labs and biotechnology firms. Federal reform will create a host of new federally funded grant opportunities that will further support our medical schools, hospitals and educational institutions. Grants for training the health care and public health workforces, graduate medical education, education and training in family medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, mental and behavioral health and nursing will help to support two of Massachusetts’ greatest local industries: health care and medical education.

While federal reform will not solve all of our challenges, Massachusetts stands to benefit from it. If enacted, Massachusetts would be in a better position to address some of the remaining health care challenges related to access, quality and costs, and it would provide a platform for the state to continue to implement innovative solutions to one of the biggest problems facing people, employers, and local and state government.

It’s worth taking a look.
-Lindsey Tucker

Remember the MassHealth waiver? Didn’t think so. After refreshing your knowledge with the superb Mass Medicaid Policy Institute summary, come back for a brief discussion of today’s news.

[short summary: waiver= permission by federal government allowing state to claim federal Medicaid reimbursement funds for health reform spending]

Today the state filed with the federal government a request to obtain additional federal funds to support safety net hospitals that treat large numbers of MassHealth patients. For detail, see the state’s press release, and a story in the online Boston Globe.

(UPDATE: the actual waiver submission is here (pdf))

The total requested comes to $480 million over two years. Of that, $216 million would go to Cambridge Health Alliance, for payments to support their extensive primary care and mental health programs for low income patients, and to facilitate the reorganization plan underway. The rest would assist other hospitals, with the almost all going to go to six hospitals which have the highest ratio of Medicaid care compared to commercial patients: Boston Medical Center, Brockton, Caritas Carney, Lawrence, Holyoke and Mercy Hospitals.

The Cambridge payments were previously approved by the legislature, but legislative action is needed to authorize the funds for other hospitals.

These funds are vital to reverse some of the growing disparities in MassHealth payment levels. The hospitals that depend on MassHealth for a significant proportion of their revenue have been disadvantaged because they have little ability to shift costs to private payers. These payments will facilitate the move to a more effective payment system under payment reform. We strongly urge the legislature to support the request.

In addition to the funds request, the administration is also seeking federal authority to increase copays for generic drugs from $2 to $3. While this request is driven by budget shortfalls, it may result in a real hardship for MassHealth recipients with very low incomes. In addition, this step reduces federal revenue to the state. Most of the revenue collected in extra copays will go to the federal government, rather than support the state’s budget. At time when the state is seeking to maximize federal funds, this proposal is counterproductive.

Over 200 parents and young children “strollered in” to the State House today to lobby against the cuts that Governor Patrick has asked for regarding Early Intervention Programs. Early Intervention needs an estimated $2 million by April 1st to maintain the services that are currently provided. Otherwise, the percentage delay that a child must exhibit to get services will rise significantly.

For children with speech delays, the news is even worse. They will have to exhibit a 50% delay versus the current 30% they currently need to exhibit to get services. This means that for a two year old to receive speech services, he or she will have to be at the level of a one year old, not being able to speak even two words.

Early Intervention is the most comprehensive, family-centered program in the Commonwealth dedicated to serving children birth to three with developmental delays. The program serves more than 30,000 children and families in Massachusetts each year. Early Intervention is a range of services available to families of children up to three years old who have developmental delays or whose development is at risk because of particular birth or environmental factors.

The success of this morning’s event was due in large part to the innovative use of social media technology. In the week since it was created, the MA Early Intervention Coalition’s Facebook page has garnered more than 1,000 friends.

Early Intervention is about hope, and the families present at today’s event at the State House were hopeful the cuts would not happen, because they knew just how well Early Intervention Programs work. We hope that Governor Patrick and all the legislators hear this message, and act accordingly in regards to these programs. Many things can wait, a child cannot.
-Brittany McDaniel

Health Care For All is hosting a talk next week by Rosemary Gibson, author of a new book titled “The Treatment Trap.”

The focus of the book and her talk will be on the overuse of medical care and how it is harming consumers as well as the health care system. The event is free and open to the public.

Join us on Tuesday, March 9, 12:00-1:00pm, at Health Care For All, 30 Winter Street, Boston, 9th floor. Please RSVP to Deb Wachenheim at dwachenheim@hcfama.org.
-Deborah W. Wachenheim

Earlier this month, an analysis of two studies (pdf) from Harvard and the University of Southern California projected that national health reform would create between 250,000 and 400,000 jobs per year over the next decade – up to 4 million jobs over the decade. The study also shows that health reform will increase middle-class wages and increase national income.

This week, the researchers broke down their findings on a state-by-state basis. For Massachusetts, the study demonstrates that health reform would create over 4100 new jobs in the Commonwealth.

The jobs will come in part from lower premium growth. Premium growth will decline due to better coordination of care, including, for example, reducing the number of readmissions to hospitals after a patient’s initial discharge, bundled payments, and greater support for coordinating health care transitions. The researchers found that premium cost savings will enable employers to hire more workers and increase wages.

In addition, national health reform provide $38 billion in tax credits over the next 10 years to small businesses that provide coverage for their employees. Some 70,000 Massachusetts firms are expected to be able to take advantage of the credits. These will strengthen our small business sector, critical to growth in Massachusetts.

Community Catalyst has prepared a concise Fact Sheet (pdf) summarizing how health reform will strengthen our nation’s economic health. These conclusions strengthen our conviction that national health reform is good for Massachusetts. Please call or send an email to your Representative in Washington. For assistance and information to make it easy, go to www.NationalHealthReformIsGoodForMA.org.
-April Seligman

With the Chilean earthquake in the news, we want to take a minute to recognize two sensitive, humane steps taken by Governor Patrick and the Connector this month affecting Haitians in Massachusetts and health care.

First, the Connector will consider funds sent to help family members in Haiti as possible grounds for a hardship waiver for Commonwealth Care premiums. Many enrolled in Commonwealth Care have family in Haiti, and are sending money otherwise used to pay for health care premiums to help their relatives rebuild their houses and lives post earthquake. Board member Celia Wcislo raised this at an earlier meeting this month, and the Connector is taking the humanitarian needs into consideration.

Second, MassHealth announced a special policy (pdf) to expedite health program applications for arrivals from Haiti. Applications annotated as “Haiti Earthquake Survivor,” will receive prompt consideration, and MassHealth has designated certain staff people that providers can work with to expedite processing (see also this statement on other benefits).

Health Care For All would like to thank Governor Patrick and the Connector for being one step ahead of other states in helping Haitians get the health care they need. These compassionate policies represent the best of what makes the Commonwealth a true community.
-Brittany McDaniel

Yesterday was Patrick Holland’s (Connector CFO) last Connector Board meeting; today is his last day at the Connector. Jay Gonzalez began yesterday’s meeting by recognizing Patrick’s incredible work: “Patrick Holland is one of the reasons the Connector has been as successful as it has.” Jon Kingsdale echoed Gonzalez’s comments.

And we agree. Thank you, Patrick, from all of us at Health Care For All, for your amazing commitment and excellent work at the Connector! We have enjoyed your forthrightness, compassion, wit, and humor. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with you. Best of luck in your next venture.

The meeting discussed next year’s Commonwealth Care program, including the procurement of health plans, auto-assignment of CommCare members to plans, and copayments, and next year’s Commonwealth Choice program. Details below - click for more. (more…)

Click on the graphic above to go to www.NationalHealthReformIsGoodForMA.org, our website to encourage people to contact Massachusetts members of Congress to support health reform.

Following today’s summit, which clarified so starkly the stakes involved in the health reform debate, we urge all those who support health reform to let their friends know about the site and contact their Representative in Washington.

Our friends at Community Catalyst (read their Health Policy Hub blog for succinct, insightful commentary on national reform) tweeted during today’s summit. Following the summit, they tweeted the following wrap-up haiku:

The President asks

How many can we cover?

Deafening silence

We need to fill that silence with our voices calling for change.
-Brian Rosman

Today in Nurses Hall, Watch Your Mouth and Health Care For All celebrated the 5th Annual Oral Health Heroes Event. Several individuals in the legislature and our communities who have demonstrate outstanding leadership in oral health advocacy and/or a strong commitment to improving the state of oral health in the Commonwealth were named this year’s Oral Health Heroes.

This year’s legislative honorees are Senator Steven Panagiotakos and Representative Ellen Story. Senator Panagiotakos, while serving in a leadership role as Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, was instrumental in preserving dental benefits for adults on MassHealth in the FY2010 budget. Representative Story has consistently stood up for oral health, signing on to many great oral health bills and testifying at several hearings at the State House to promote oral health.

We also are honored two members of the community who have demonstrated significant leadership in oral health: Hugh Silk, M.D., and Herlivi Linares, D.D.S. Dr. Silk is a family physician at Hahnemann Family Health Center in Worcester. He has been a longtime partner of the Watch Your Mouth Campaign, helping to plan oral health events in his community and consistently serving as a spokesperson with the media. Dr. Linares is an Associate Dental Director of Lynn Community Health Center Dental Services, and has shown an ongoing commitment to protecting the health and well-being of her community by providing crucial oral health services.

You can see photos of the event and view videos of the speakers.
-Christine Keeves