COVID-19 & Healthcare

Countdown to the Health Insurance Marketplace

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

9-square-imageThe Arizona Republic today has a useful article about the numerous health care groups who are hard at work trying to educate the public about the Affordable Care Act aka "ObamaCare" and to get them to enroll beginning October 1. Massive insurance sign-up planned in Arizona:

Leaders of Arizona’s social safety-net organizations may be facing the most daunting challenge of their careers.

They’re experts in their field, many with decades in the health-care
and non-profit sectors. Now, they must facilitate the biggest
health-care expansion in two generations by getting people signed up —
beginning Oct. 1 — for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Arizona’s 1 million uninsured are a diverse group of people who,
polls show, have at least one thing in common: They know little about
the federal health-care overhaul that requires most of them to have
coverage next year or pay a fine.

Most are unaware that the new law offers free or subsidized health insurance to nearly all of them.

* * *

In Arizona, there is no state or federal agency charged with finding
them, educating them about the complexities of premiums, copays and
deductibles, or helping them enroll in the right plan. Arizonans who
don’t use insurance agents or brokers, or who don’t qualify for
Medicaid, are expected to navigate the federal online marketplace and
choose their own plan.

Gov. Jan Brewer declined to set up a state-run marketplace where
consumers could shop for insurance, limiting the public funding
available to educate the public. She cited cost, lack of state control
and the unknowns associated with running a state-based exchange when she
ceded that duty to the federal government two years ago.

[Brewer was hoping the ACA would be overturned in the Supreme Court, or repealed in Congress. She is ideologically opposed to do anything to make the program a success.]

The Affordable Care Act is making health insurance more affordable

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

About 6.4 million Americans will be able to purchase insurance for less than $100 each month on Obamacare’s new state-level marketplaces, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services, Think Progress reports. Under Obamacare, Millions Of Americans Will Pay Less Than $100 Per Month For Health Insurance:

The Obama administration calculated the expected premiums for people
buying “silver” plans, which are the second-cheapest option on the new
insurance marketplaces. Even though not every marketplace has announced
its premium rates yet, researchers were still able to estimate those
payments based on the health law’s rule for determining subsidies.

[See Subsidy Calculator | The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.]

Americans who make up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level —
which works out to be $94,200 for a family of four — are eligible for
subsidies that ensure they’ll only pay a certain percentage of their
income for a health plan. Using census data on Americans’ income levels,
researchers were able to extrapolate how many of them would be paying
less than $100 for monthly premiums for silver plans.

Countdown to the Health Insurance Marketplace

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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

10-days-to-open-enrollment_originalDid you know that in just 4 easy steps you and your family could be on
your way to getting quality, affordable coverage through the Health
Insurance Marketplace? Learn all you can now so you’ll be ready to apply for health coverage, compare plans side-by-side, and enroll in a plan on October 1.

Here is the latest information from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to educate the public on the Health Insurance Marketplace:

Item 1: Obama Administration announces a coordinated effort to prevent and detect consumer fraud in the Health Insurance Marketplace

On Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairwoman Edith Ramirez met at the White House to kick off a comprehensive interagency initiative to prevent, protect against, and, where necessary, prosecute consumer fraud and privacy violations in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Representing key state partners in this critically important effort to protect consumers were Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. Senior White House officials also attended the meeting.

Ronnie & Nancy Scold Congress for ‘Bringing the Country to the Edge of Default’ (video)

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Ronald-Reagan-publicby Pamela Powers Hannley

President Ronald Reagan has been elevated to God-like status by contemporary Republicans– particularly those who still believe in trickledown economics, union-busting, Welfare Queens, the "vegetable" ketchup, and spending BIG BUCKS on the military-industrial complex, while taking food out of the mouths of children.

So, although the Gipper might agree in theory with the cannibals in the House of Representatives who are trying to destroy the social fabric of our country by denying food to the poor, he would not agree with their irresponsible tactic of repeatedly bringing the country to the brink of a shutdown just to make political points.

Check out this recording from 1987 (below) in which he scolds Congress for exactly the brinksmanship that his contemporary fans are pursuing now.

Climate Smart Southwest: Are YOU Ready for Climate Change?

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Climate-smart-southwest-logoby Pamela Powers Hannley

Is it hot enough for ya?

In the coming years, as temperatures rise, weather patterns evolve, and plant and animal species become extinct, that wry, old country greeting will lose it’s quaint humor. Thanks to global warming.

The Southwest is already the hottest and driest part of the US. And our region is already experiencing longer and more intense heat waves, a dramatic spike in forest fires and severe dust storms, and changes in rainfall and seasonal snowmelt. These changes threaten water resources, food security, and public health.  As extreme weather events continue to increase, we will see higher rates of heat stress, newly emerging infectious diseases, asthma, and other respiratory illnesses.

How will the Sonoran Desert change as climate change progresses? Will we have enough water? What will our air quality be like if Arizona’s dirty coal-fired power plants continue to balk at environmental regulations?  How will Arizona cope with rolling brown outs if electrical demand spikes? How will Tucson’s vulnerable populations fare with more days over 100 degrees? What can we do NOW to lessen the impact of climate change on our fragile environment?

This coming weekend, Sept. 20-21, the Arizona Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is sponsoring an important conference for us desert dwellers:Climate Smart Southwest, Ready or Hot? Check out the details after the jump.