National Hemophilia Foundation Names Jeff Cornett Advocate of the Year
Horizons in Hemophlia, November 2010
By Karen Daniel, Marketing and Communications Director
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Jeff Cornett, Director of Training, Research and Advocacy for Hemophilia of Georgia, was named Advocate of the Year by the National Hemophilia Foundation at the 2010 NHF Annual Meeting in New Orleans. This award recognizes individuals for their outstanding work related to advocacy in the bleeding/clotting disorders community.
Jeff recently celebrated his 20th anniversary with Hemophilia of Georgia. Throughout his tenure, he has consistently and successfully advocated for the bleeding disorder community in Georgia and nationally. After Congress passed the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act in 1998, Jeff assisted many Georgia clients in gathering the required information to prove their eligibility for settlement funds.
Jeff has attended NHF’s Washington Days every year since 1999. In 2009, Jeff and the other delegates from Georgia convinced two US congressmen representing Georgia to co-sponsor the Health Insurance Coverage Protection Act. The year before, Jeff was instrumental in getting Georgia congressmen to support increased funding for the CDC and to co-sponsor the Medigap Access Improvement Act.
Currently, Jeff is working to bring attention to the fact that TRICARE, the health insurance provider for military families, is not affected by the Affordable Care Act and therefore is not required to allow young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. He is also helping Georgia consumers understand what they need to do in order to enroll in the new Pre-Existing Insurance Plans.
Jeff has led successful efforts to increase state funding to pay for clotting factor for the uninsured or to avoid proposed cuts in funding. In 2009, facing a 20% cut in state funding, Jeff organized a rally at the State Capitol attended by more than 100 clients and family members. After hearing first-hand from people who have bleeding disorders, the Georgia General Assembly restored $200,000 to the budget for 2009 and another $250,000 for the next year. In addition, Jeff was instrumental in getting the Hemophilia Advisory Board Act passed by the General Assembly.
Jeff has been actively involved in HoG’s youth leadership program for several years. He participates in the annual Teen Retreat weekend and accompanies HoG youth to the week-long leadership program at the Georgia Teen Institute. During HoG’s summer camp, Camp Wannaklot, Jeff serves as a counselor for the 16 and 17 year-old boys and assists with the Leaders in Training program. As part of HoG’s effort to get young people involved in advocacy, Jeff has included teens in HoG’s delegation to NHF’s Washington Days the past four years.
Jeff attends every HoG client dinner to meet with clients and family members to share the latest advocacy information and to encourage them to get involved. He also presents advocacy sessions at Family Camp and other events. In addition, Jeff writes articles for HoG’s newsletter and occasionally sends out special Advocacy Alert emails.