Health Care Reform Leadership Training for Faith Community and Communities of Color

Strong leaders are needed to speak out now about the development of an Illinois health insurance marketplace and expanding Medicaid, not cutting it.  

The Campaign for Better Health Care's Faith Caucus is inviting you to become a partner because, as a leader in the faith community or community of color, you can bring back the information to your congregation and community so they can join the effort for the full implementation of the new health care law (Affordable Care Act).  Your commitment will be to attend the next five trainings (one per month, each 3 hrs) and to follow through by mobilizing your communities. 

These trainings will help prepare you for a more active role in the pursuit of affordable, accessible and quality health care for everyone.  The leadership training series topics will include Organizing 101, Affordable Care Act, Marketplace, fundraising, legislative advocacy, messaging, social media, community engagement, leadership development, communications and resource development.

The initial five trainings will be held in Chicago, but we are seeking funding to provide trainings statewide.

Help make a difference in shaping our healthcare and the healthcare of those who need you to take action.

You can register by clicking this link.

 

Day	Date	Time	Location	Room
Tuesday	August 28st, 2012	1-4 pm	Mercy Hospital	Great Room
Tuesday	September 19th, 2012	1-4 pm	St. Mary’s Hospital,	1CD
Tuesday	October 16th, 2012	1-4 pm	Mercy Hospital	Room 242
Tuesday	November 13th, 2012	1-4 pm	Mercy Hospital	Penthouse
Tuesday	December 11th, 2012	1-4 pm	Mercy Hospital	Penthouse

Mercy Hospital & Medical Center. 2525 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60616.

St. Mary’s Hospital, 2233 W. Division St.  Chicago, IL 60622 Parking across the Street–North of Division St.

Laura Leon
Director of Faith Initiatives
Campaign for Better Health Care

Who Has Pre-existing Conditions in Illinois?

A new study by Families USA has delved deep into Obamacare's patient protection provisions, which prevent anyone from being turned down or charged exorbitant rates for a pre-existing condition.

According to the study, over one in four Illinoisans under the age of 65 (the age where they become eligible for Medicare) have a pre-existing condition that could result in denial of coverage prior to the exchanges coming into effect in 2014. That's nearly 2.9 million people!

People with pre-existing conditions live in all counties in Illinois: the proportion of people affected ranges from 24.5 percent in Lake County to 31.1 percent in Jefferson, Marion, Randolph, and Washington Counties. One common factor is that pre-existing conditions tend to become more prevalent as we age: nearly half (49.2 percent) of adults aged 55 to 64 have a pre-existing condition that could lead to a denial of coverage. Right now, the presence of a pre-existing condition at any point in your life can be a reason for health insurance companies to discriminate against you.

To me, the implications are very clear: Obamacare gives people with pre-existing conditions access to affordable insurance. In fact, 59.5% of people with pre-existing conditions in Illinois are within the threshold (below 400% FPL) where either subsidies will be available to help them purchase health insurance or they will qualify for Medicaid. That's a tremendous relief for anyone without or in danger of losing their health care.

Also, as Families USA discusses in the study, not knowing what can happen with you or your family members' health insurance can result in "job lock" where one keeps an inferior job for fear of losing their coverage. Implementation of Obamacare will relieve that fear, and it could even lead to more people taking risks that were impossible before, such as starting a new business. This can lead to a more natural flow of the labor market and towards more job creation, giving Illinois an economic boost.

These are real benefits that people with pre-existing conditions, like me, can look forward to in 2014. In the meantime, IPXP, Illinois's temporary pre-existing conditions plan for the uninsured that was created and subsidized by Obamacare, is doing an incredible job as a stopgap measure to help us get through the next year and a half. I encourage you to spread the word about IPXP to ensure that everyone who needs to can take advantage of these benefits. As we can see from the Families study, there are a lot of Illinoisans with pre-existing conditions who have the chance to take advantage of a great program right now.

David Zoltan,
Guest Blogger, Illinois Health Matters

Chicago Orgs Kick off Project to Educate Asian Americans About the ACA

There remains considerable misinformation and ignorance about the Affordable Care Act (ACA) among limited English-speaking Asian Americans and other immigrant groups regarding ACA and how it will impact them. Provisions of the health care reform law that are already in effect (children covered by parents’ insurance up to age 26, insurance companies prohibited from placing a lifetime limit on essential benefits) are unknown to most immigrant groups. 

Key provisions of the law that will have a major impact on uninsured immigrant populations, such as the affordable health insurance exchanges, will not have their desired effect unless the target population understands how these provisions apply to them and how to make the right choices for the health care coverage they need.

Through small employer tax credits and other provisions, the Affordable Care Act will also have a significant impact on small business owners which represent a major portion of the economy and life in ethnic neighborhoods such as Albany Park, Uptown, Rogers Park, and Chinatown. However, many of these ethnic business owners are linguistically isolated or inherently distrustful of government stemming from experiences in their countries of origin. They do not understand or are wary of government programs. Such linguistic and cultural barriers present an important challenge to the implementation of the ACA as 2014 draws near, and will impact the health of the vulnerable Asian immigrant and refugee population, in the Chicago metropolitan area.

In response to the lack of knowledge around the ACA, the Asian Health Coalition (AHC) and Health & Disability Advocates (HDA) have embarked on a project (with generous funding from the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and The Chicago Community Trust): “Stay Informed!: Education on Health Reform” to provide culturally and linguistically tailored outreach and technical assistance on health reform to the Asian immigrant and refugee communities in the Chicago area. The target audiences for Stay Informed! are Asian community members and small business owners (SBOs).

The goal of Stay Informed! is to provide culturally competent education and outreach on the Affordable Care Act for linguistically isolated and disenfranchised Asian immigrant and refugee consumers and SBOs to enhance understanding of and participation in health care reform. Toward that end, we have created fact sheets and presentations in English, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Khmer. Materials in additional languages will become available over the coming months

We have already conducted trainings at the Cambodian Association of Illinois and Chinese Mutual Aid Association and received many good questions from attendees about the Affordable Care Act. Please don't hesitate to use our fact sheets to educate your own communities and contact either of us with any questions.

Edwin Chandrasekar
Executive Director
Asian Health Coalition
edwin@asianhealth.org

Stephani Becker
Project Director
Health & Disability Advocates

sbecker@hdadvocates.org

What’s in the New Health Care Law for Women? Well-Woman Visits That Can Improve Your Health

As an emergency physician, I tend to work on the other side of preventive care services. I see what happens when women don’t know about safer sex and birth control, and end up with complications from sexually transmitted infections. I see what happens when women do not get routine screening for cervical cancer and struggle with life-threatening cancer. I see what happens with out-of-control hypertension and diabetes, and the heart attacks and strokes that are detected far too late.

These experiences have shown me that prevention is the best medicine. That’s one big reason why the Affordable Care Act provision requiring new insurance plans to cover women’s preventive care without any extra charges or co-pays is a real victory for women. These requirements, which go into effect Aug. 1, will be phased into existing insurance plans over time.

Because of this change, women will be able to obtain complete contraceptive care, screening for sexually transmitted infections, and screening and counseling for intimate partner violence. This builds upon earlier requirements that insurance companies cover – at no additional cost to women -- mammograms and screenings for cervical cancer. It’s clear to me that these mandates will significantly improve women’s health and lives and ultimately lead to a reduction in health care costs.

The Well-Woman Visit

One of the easiest ways to obtain preventive services is through a well-woman visit. These visits, which will soon be covered with no co-pay, give you the opportunity to ask key questions about birth control, sexually transmitted infections, and other reproductive issues, along with questions about diet and exercise and any health concerns you have. You can also discuss changes in your family’s medical history that are important for your health care provider to consider. For example, when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, my doctor recommended that I get earlier screenings.

Along these same lines, your health care provider may have questions or issues to discuss with you. Smoking, drinking and recreational drug use can create and contribute to health problems, and often need to be discussed and addressed multiple times before change happens. Well-women visits also give your health care provider a chance to screen for potential high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, domestic violence, and more.

The well-woman visit is important for another reason: it gives you and your health care provider a chance to get to know each other. Most people go to their provider or to a clinic only when there’s a problem, but the best time to get to know your provider isn’t when you’re in distress from a painful or troublesome condition. Studies have shown that health care providers make more accurate diagnoses when they know their patients and can put the symptoms in the context of your life. A well-woman visit is a precious opportunity to build this trusted relationship.

As an emergency physician, I am excited about the new provisions taking effect Aug. 1, which include annual well-women visits for those who want them. I would much rather women regularly visit their health care providers than come to the E.R. later suffering from preventable problems. So please take this opportunity and make an appointment with your provider. The importance of investing in your health is too crucial to ignore.

Leana S. Wen, MD
Dr. Wen is an emergency physician at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital and a clinical fellow at Harvard Medical School. She is the author of a forthcoming book on patient advocacy, “When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests.” For more information, visit her blog When Doctors Don’t Listen or her website. You can also follow her on Twitter @DrLeanaWen.

(This post was originally posted here on Our Bodies, Ourselves as part of the Countdown to Coverage Campaign)

With A Little Help From My Friends

One of the joys of being an advocate for the Affordable Care Act is getting to help others figure out what help they have available to them and seeing them get the health care they need. As with any large implementation, the array of benefits under Obamacare can be daunting, and there is no shame in looking for help in figuring out what programs or benefits apply to you.

The drafters of Obamacare thought ahead and added a "Navigator"program to provide just that assistance.The Illinois Department of Insurance and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services will be seeking organizations in the next year to employ people to be trained in all of these options and sent forth to aid wherever they can, especially in hard to reach communities. This is a great source of jobs and a great resource for a community's health care needs.

The way the law is written, the Navigators have to be neutral parties -- uncompensated by insurance companies and providing unbiased assistance -- through the entire process. Then, further down the line, if you have questions, you already have a familiar face to contact for answers.

In a world where we are all used to enraging battles regarding our health care coverage, Congress actually built an insightful program into the ACA. Be sure to send comments on the design of the program to Governor Quinn so that it can be as effective as possible, and be ready to spread the word to those that will need a helping hand.

Sometimes, we all need a little help from our friends.

David Zoltan
Guest Blogger, Illinois Health Matters

Ages 55-64 and Uninsured...Where Can We Go for Help?

The number of people without health insurance in the United States has increased steadily over the last several years, from 43 million in 2007 to 49 million in 2010. Individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 make up 11% of this uninsured population. This age group is particularly vulnerable when uninsured: people age 55-64 are more likely than younger people to be in fair or poor health, and people age 55-64 who are uninsured are twice as likely to be in fair or poor health than their counterparts with health insurance coverage.

Regardless of health status, individuals in this group do not qualify for coverage through Medicare or Medicaid unless they have a serious disability (i.e., one that meets Social Security’s definition of disability for purposes of awarding Social Security Disability Insurance). Therefore, most people age 55-64 who do not have employer coverage are forced to seek coverage in the individual insurance market, where they may currently be denied a plan or charged exorbitantly high premiums for having pre-existing conditions.

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act makes a big difference for this population. Right now, the ACA is providing incentives to small business owners to keep providing employer coverage for people between the ages of 55 and 64. In 2014, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny people coverage due to a pre-existing condition, and premiums and cost-sharing subsidies from the government will help to ensure that people can afford to pay for coverage.

But what can people in this age group do until 2014? With support from the Chicago Community Trust, AgeOptions has put together a toolkit, “No Insurance? Health Care Options for Individuals Age 55-64 Without Insurance”:

This toolkit contains information about health care resources for individuals without insurance coverage, including:

• “Safety net” organizations and programs that provide access to health care
• Affordable Care Act provisions that will assist these individuals in obtaining coverage
• Where to go for information and assistance in finding health care options

AgeOptions hopes that this toolkit will be a valuable resource for people who are 55-64 and who are uninsured or underinsured. For more information and materials created by the Make Medicare Work Coalition (MMW), visit the AgeOptions website here: http://www.ageoptions.org/whatwedo/MMW.cfm

Erin Weir
Manager of Health Care Access
AgeOptions

Affordable Care Act will greatly benefit women

The Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act marks a critical victory for women’s health, and the health of all Americans. Because of this landmark decision, millions of women and families will continue to have access to affordable, quality health care — many of whom previously had inadequate coverage or no coverage at all.

At Planned Parenthood of Illinois, we understand how this law will have an unprecedented effect on women’s health. The law guarantees women direct access to OB/GYN providers without referrals, and ends discriminatory practices against women, such as charging women higher premiums and denying coverage for “pre-existing conditions.” And in just six weeks, women will gain access to birth control without a co-pay — which will have a tremendous economic impact on already stretched family budgets.

Since August 2010, more than 45 million women have already received full coverage for preventive health screenings, including mammograms and Pap tests. Now with this ruling, 17 million more women will have access to health insurance for the first time. And millions more young adults will be able to stay on their parent’s health insurance plans, just like the 3.1 million young adults who have done so since September 2010.

In Illinois alone, 469,469 women of reproductive age will now gain coverage under the Affordable Care Act by 2014.

The increased access to preventive health care and family planning under the Affordable Care Act provides immeasurable economic value to women, families and society. Not only does every dollar invested in federal family planning save taxpayers and families nearly $4, but unintended pregnancies are already costing U.S. taxpayers $11 billion a year.

Women realize that health and wellness are key to prosperity and independence. In times of economic uncertainty, it is more important than ever to stay healthy. For women, birth control isn’t a political or social issue — it’s basic health care and an economic concern. The money — up to $600 on average — that women will save on birth control each year is equal to five weeks of groceries for a family of four, nine tanks of gas in a minivan, or one semester of college textbooks.

Planned Parenthood of Illinois health centers already provide basic health care to nearly 75,000 patients every year, and to 3,321 patients in Springfield alone. Because this landmark law has been upheld, we know we’ll be able to do even more for the communities we serve in the months and years ahead.

Carole Brite

President and CEO

Planned Parenthood of Illinois

(Originally posted on July 10 in the State Journal-Register)