State Leaders Meet to Plan Upcoming RSG Meetings

The Reforming States Group (RSG) is run by a Steering Committee, consisting of RSG members. This leadership group, responsible for planning annual meetings, overseeing projects, and recruiting new members, meets twice a year. In early September, 23 members of the RSG Steering Committee met in Denver to discuss RSG governance issues and plans for upcoming regional meetings. The meeting also offered committee members a chance to share information—and to learn about select topics.

Members updated one another on pressing population health issues in their own regions, as well as on the impact of state budgets on Medicaid and public health programs; how changes in the ACA landscape affect them; and how the State Innovation Model (SIM) grants are playing out in states that have received them.

In September, the topics for focused learning and discussion were the impact of marijuana legalization and the status of vaccine exemption laws.

Marijuana Use in Colorado

Steering group members heard a panel discussion on “Legalization of Marijuana: Lessons from Colorado.” In January 2014, Colorado became the first state to legalize retail marijuana. Some predicted the state would see crime waves and an epidemic of addiction and overdose. More than a year later, other issues have come to the forefront, including creating a medical marijuana registry for patients, educating the public about retail marijuana responsible use, and monitoring health effects and changes in use patterns.

Speakers included Andrew Freedman, Director of the Governor’s Office of Marijuana Coordination, Larry Wolk, Executive Director and Chief Medical Officer Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, and G. Sam Wang, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics University of Colorado Medical Campus, Children’s Hospital Colorado. Presenters discussed Colorado’s experience, including findings about marijuana use in the state and pediatric marijuana exposure. You can view some of the presentations at the RSG Resource Library.

Vaccine Exemption Laws

A second presentation focused on “Vaccine Exemption Laws: The Debates Continue.” All 50 states have legislation requiring specific vaccines for students. Although exemptions vary from state to state, all school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for medical reasons, and almost all states grant religious exemptions for those with religious beliefs against immunizations. In 2015, in the wake of well-publicized measles outbreaks in California, 12 states considered legislation addressing immunization exemptions. Two of those states—Vermont and California—will no longer allow philosophical exemptions beginning in July 2016. And debates in various state capitols will likely continue in 2016. After a presentation of the evidence on the safety and efficacy of specific childhood and adult vaccines, RSG Steering Committee members Terry Cline, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Oklahoma, Jane Kitchel, Chair, Appropriations Committee, Vermont Senate, and Nick Macchione, Director, County of San Diego Health and Human Services, led a panel discussion about the policy debates and political implications of the recent laws.