COVID-19 & Healthcare

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

One of the harshest critics of the federal government's healthcare.gov web site has been Ezra Klein of the Washington Post (whom I suspect has an unhealthy faith in modern technology). Recent modifications to the web site now have "techie" Ezra Klein suggesting that the healthcare.gov may finally be working as it was intended to work. Wonkbook: Is Obamacare turning the corner?:

A spin through HealthCare.Gov this morning went smoothly. The site loaded quickly. The process progressed easily. There were no error messages or endless hangs. I didn't complete the final step of purchasing insurance but, until then, the site worked — or at least appeared to work — exactly as intended.

My experience isn't rare. There are increasing reports that HealthCare.Gov is working better — perhaps much better — for consumers than it was a few short weeks ago. "Consumer advocates say it is becoming easier for people to sign up for coverage," report Sandhya Somashekhar and Amy Goldstein in the Washington Post. "The truth is, the system is getting stronger as it recovers from its disastrous launch," writes Sam Baker in the National Journal. Applying "was no problem at all, with no delays," says Paul Krugman.

Reports from inside the health care bureaucracy are also turning towards optimism. People who knew the Web site was going to be a mess on Oct. 1st are, for the first time, beginning to think HealthCare.Gov might work. Data backs them up: By mid-November, the pace of enrollment in the federal exchanges had doubled from what it was in October.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Press release from Get Covered America, Cristina Saralegui Joins Get Covered America Campaign As Efforts Ramp Up to Reach Women On Health Care Enrollment:

As families prepare to gather for the holiday season, the Get Covered America campaign is ramping up outreach efforts to English and Spanish-speaking women as the number one messengers for encouraging enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Today, the campaign released a new Spanish-language PSA featuring veteran Latina journalist and talk-show host Cristina Saralegui as part of their “She Knows/Ella Sabe” campaign, which equips women with the information they need to help their spouses, partners, children and neighbors enroll in new health coverage options.

“One out of four uninsured people who are eligible for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace is Latino, and access to affordable health care is critical to hard-working Hispanic families,” said Cristina Saralegui. “I’m thrilled to join the Get Covered America campaign to help spread the word to Latinas across the country, since we all know that a healthy woman means a healthy family and a healthy community.”

On GetCoveredAmerica.org, the campaign is launching new digital tools—including a female avatar named “Nona”—to help women sign up for the new health care options and commit to getting their family and loved ones covered as well.

“Women are often the most trusted voices both at home and in the community, and they play a critical role in making sure their family and friends have the information they need to get covered,” said Anne Filipic, President of Enroll America. “That is why we are so proud that Cristina Saralegui is joining our campaign and encouraging women, especially Latinas, to get the facts about the new health insurance options and spread the word to their loved ones.”

Watch the new Spanish-language PSA HERE (below the fold).

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Health Insurance Marketplace is found at the official government web site, HealthCare.gov. The Spanish language version is at CuidadoDeSalud.gov. [Update: The Obama administration is planning a soft launch for the Spanish-language version of HealthCare.gov in early December, after a two-month delay, a senior administration official told TPM Tuesday. Exclusive: Spanish CuidadoDeSalud.gov Set For Soft Launch Next Month.]

Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild's office provides public service information that our local media does not, Health Insurance Marketplace Now Open:

The Marketplace, at HealthCare.gov and CuidadoDeSalud.gov, is online with costs and more detailed information.  Consumers have a choice of plans to compare.

With a single application, you can also see if you qualify for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Those without Internet access can call 1-800-318-2596 (TTY: 1-855-889-4325) to enroll.

Local groups that can help people navigate the Health Insurance Marketplace include:

El Rio Community Health Center – 3480 E. Brittania Dr, Suite 120  (520) 670-3909

Pima County Health Department – 3950 S. Country Club, Suite 100  (520) 724-9999

Tucson Urban League – 2305 S. Park Ave  (520)791-9522

Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – 823 E. Speedway Blvd.  (520) 620-0005

United Way of Tucson and Southern Arizona – 330 N. Commerce Park Loop , Suite 200  (520) 903-9000

St. Elizabeth’s Health Center – 140 W. Speedway Blvd., Suite 100  (520) 628-7871

The above agencies are the only qualified navigators and offer their services free of charge.  Do not provide your social security number or health information to anyone but those groups, after you’ve made contact. The government will never call you for information.

Small businesses with fewer than 51 employees have their own marketplace. Call 1-800-706-7893 (TTY: 1-800-706-7915) for questions about the Small Business Health Options (SHOP) Marketplace.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hey, hysterical media villagers! "ObamaCare" is working where the GOP is not sabotaging it. Since our GOP-friendly media here in Arizona will not report the "ObamaCare" success stories, I will start posting them here.

Paul Krugman wrote about the success of the state-run California Marketplace health insurance exchange, known as Covered California, in his recent column. California, Here We Come?:

We know what each side of the partisan divide wants you to believe. The Obama administration is telling the public that everything will eventually be fixed, and urging Congressional Democrats to keep their nerve. Republicans, on the other hand, are declaring the program an irredeemable failure, which must be scrapped and replaced with … well, they don’t really want to replace it with anything.

At a time like this, you really want a controlled experiment. What would happen if we unveiled a program that looked like Obamacare, in a place that looked like America, but with competent project management that produced a working website?

Well, your wish is granted. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you California.

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Hey, hysterical media villagers! "ObamaCare" is working where the GOP is not sabotaging it. Since our GOP-friendly media here in Arizona will not report the "ObamaCare" success stories, I will start posting them here.

The Washington Post reported on the success of the state-run Marketplace health insurance exchange in deep-red Kentucky (but a Democratic governor), known as "Kynect." In rural Kentucky, debate over health law takes a back seat as people sign up:

[In Kentucky] where the rollout has gone smoothly, and in a county that is one of the poorest and unhealthiest in the country, Courtney Lively has been busy signing people up: cashiers from the IGA grocery, clerks from the dollar store, workers from the lock factory, call-center agents, laid-off coal miners, KFC cooks, Chinese green-card holders in town to teach Appalachian students.

* * *

Now it was the beginning of another day, and a man Lively would list as Client 375 sat across from her in her office at a health clinic next to a Hardee’s.

“So, is that Breathitt County?” she asked Woodrow Wilson Noble as she tapped his information into a laptop Thursday morning.

“Yeah, we live on this side of the hill,” said Noble, whose family farm had gone under, who lived on food stamps and what his mother could spare, and who was about to hear whether he would have health insurance for the first time in his 60-year-old life.

This is how things are going in Kentucky: As conservatives argued that the new health-care law will wreck the economy, as liberals argued it will save billions, as many Americans raged at losing old health plans and some analysts warned that a disproportionate influx of the sick and the poor could wreck the new health-care model, Lively was telling Noble something he did not expect to hear.

“All right,” she said. “We’ve got you eligible for Medicaid.”