The CDC’s John Jernigan, M.D., M.S., clinical team lead on the Multistate Meningitis Outbreak and director of the CDC’s Office of Health Associated Infections Prevention Research and Evaluation will talk about the agency’s response to the multistate fungal meningitis outbreak.

Come toast the holiday season with some fine wine and craft beer with other D.C.-area health reporters and editors. No formal program – just a gathering of health journalists to tell war stories from 2012 and look forward to another crazy year in 2013. 

We are headed into the chilliest season of the year and at the Cleveland Association of Health Care Journalists’ Meet ‘n Greet you can get a head start on holiday chillin’ (and playing catch-up) at Cedar-Fairmount’s aptly named and cozy (dim lights, scattered tables, comfy couch) Fairmount Martini and Wine Bar.

Less than a year from now, states must be ready to enroll millions of people in insurance exchanges, as outlined in the 2010 health care overhaul law. Or, the federal government will step in to do the job, or part of it. States also have the option of opening their Medicaid programs to millions of new participants. But that’s not much time, considering their long to-do lists.

What information do the states still need from the federal government about how the federal and partnership exchanges will work? How much latitude will the states have to handle eligibility for Medicaid and to make sure that people transitioning between Medicaid and subsidized private insurance in the exchanges won’t have gaps in coverage? Can the federal government be ready with its own back-up exchanges? Will insurers be ready in time?

This briefing, sponsored by AHCJ, the Alliance for Health Reform and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will help you answer these questions for your readers, viewers and listeners.