Month: September 2013

Get The Word Out Weekend

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This weekend is Get the Word Out Weekend | Get Covered America:

The Get Covered America campaign is hosting national days of action on
September 7th and 8th to get the word out to consumers who need to know
that they'll have access to new health insurance options this fall.
Below are several ways our partners can get involved in our Get the Word Out Weekend.

Events on the ground:

We have staff on the ground organizing Get the Word Out Weekend events
in the following 10 states: AZ, FL, GA, IL, MI, NC, NJ, OH, PA, TX.

Social media:

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

One of the best ways to help during Get the Word Out Weekend, and
beyond, is to promote our campaign and our content. We'll have tweets
and shareable graphics the week leading up to Get the Word Out Weekend.

Sign up to volunteer:

No matter where you live, we need your help to make sure as many
uninsured Americans as possible understand their new health insurance
options through the Health Insurance Marketplace. If you would like to volunteer yourself, sign up to stay up-to-date on how you can be involved.

Enroll America to educate Arizonans on the Marketplace health insurance exchange

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic reports today that the "Get The Word Out Weekend" for the marketplace health insurance exchange in Arizona begins in earnest this weekend. Health care reform ramps up in Arizona:

Beginning what will be a years-long effort to enroll Arizonans into
health-insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, hundreds of
volunteers will canvass Phoenix and Tempe neighborhoods this weekend
seeking out some of the state’s 1 million uninsured residents.

Using mapping technology and political-campaign-style organization,
the national non-profit group Enroll America is working with local
health-care and social-service agencies to locate the uninsured, answer
their questions about the federal health-care overhaul and get them
signed up.

Enrollment begins Oct. 1 in Arizona’s expanded Medicaid program and
the online insurance marketplace. Those who enroll by mid-December will
be covered beginning Jan. 1.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to increase the number of
people who have coverage,” said Allen Gjersvig of the Arizona Alliance
for Community Health Centers. “But we know … that huge numbers of
people who are potentially eligible don’t know what’s coming.”

(Update) Lawsuit to challenge the initiative to bankrupt the City of Tucson – appeal filed

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Posted by azblueMeanie:

As the great baseball sage Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

The Plaintiffs challenging the petitions of the Initiative to Bankrupt the City of Tucson (Prop. 201) filed an appeal from Pima County Superior Court Judge James Marner's order on September 3, 2013. (2 CA-CV 2013-0120).

Pursuant to Plaintiffs/Appellants’ Notice of Filing Appeal and Notice of
Expedited Election Matter Pursuant to ARCAP Rule 8.1(c ) and Request
for Scheduling Conference Pursuant to ARCAP 8.1(f),a scheduling conference was held on September 4, 2013. Order below the fold:

The SNAP Challenge and food insecurity in America

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Tucson Community Food Bank's SNAP Challenge is underway this week:

Starting Tuesday, a challenge to all people in Southern Arizona, spend
only $4 a day on food.  That is idea behind the SNAP challenge. 

Participants are ‘challenged' to only spend $4 per person, per day
for four days and still keep the meals healthy and their family members
full. 

The SNAP challenge is sponsored by the Community Food Bank of
Southern Arizona, who stated that while this challenge experience cannot
give participants a true sense of living in deep or prolonged poverty,
it can provide insight into some challenges many families face.

Challenge organizers also want participants to consider proposed cuts to the SNAP program. 

The SNAP challenge runs from September 3 to September 6.

A New York Times report today by Sheryl Stolberg examines GOP plans to cut $40 billion from the SNAP program. On the Edge of Poverty, at the Center of a Debate on Food Stamps:

When Congress officially returns to Washington next week, the diets of
families like the Rigsbys and the Adamses will be caught up in a debate
over deficit reduction. Republicans, alarmed by a rise in food stamp
enrollment, are pushing to revamp and scale down the program. Democrats
are resisting the cuts.

No matter what Congress decides, benefits will be reduced in November,
when a provision in the 2009 stimulus bill expires.