People and families from across the Sacramento region descended upon the Coffee Garden to help launch the outreach and educational campaign for the Affordable Care Act this past Sunday, August 4th. The local chapter of Organizing For Action in conjunction with UCDavis Health Systems presented an overview of the Covered California state health insurance marketplace organized under the health care reform legislation known as Obamacare.
Obamacare education kicks off in Sacramento
Volunteers giving the presentations had to attend a 2 1/2 day training workshop to learn the full breadth of the benefits and eligibility requirements for the health plans being offered through Covered California. They did a valiant job in spite of the handicap of a power point presentation laden with small type and excessive data. The presentation seems more geared to helping people make a decision about which plan to enroll in as opposed to hitting the crucial themes of affordable, guarantee issue health insurance that provides access to quality care.
Information overload
Lina Mendez gives her presentation of Covered California ACA health plans.
While the presentation gives a nice overview of the various income levels that qualify for the Advance Premium Tax Credit, or subsidy, which makes the health insurance affordable, some of the slides blunt that message with comparisons between the different metal levels (Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze) and alluding to the cost of competing health plans in the different regions. In short, it is information overload for some of the folks that are just trying to get their arms around what Covered California is all about.
Silver Plan will be best value
A central focus of the outreach and education efforts is to reach the 2.5 million uninsured in California that are estimated to qualify for the subsidy. With that target in mind, more emphasis should be put on high lighting the reduced cost sharing component of the Silver plans. Just like the premium subsidy is tied to household income, the Silver Plan offers lower copayments and out-of-pocket maximums to help individuals and families manage healthcare expenses. It is the plan that offers the most bang for the premium buck.
Graduated copay and coinsurance levels under the Silver Plan from Covered California.
Individual mandate penalties
An element that must have been purposely left out, and for which several questions were asked, was the individual mandate penalties. This caught some of the presenters off guard as there was no slide and no possible discussion of this in the training. Since it is a strategy of the opposition to convince individuals not to purchase health insurance through the exchange with the logic that the penalties are not that great, it’s important to know what those penalties are.
The penalty phases in for three years and becomes increasingly more costly. In 2014, the penalty will be 1 percent of annual income or $95, whichever is greater. By 2016, the penalty will be 2.5 percent of your annual income or $695. This means that if you do not have coverage in 2014, you will be required to pay a penalty when you file your taxes at the end of the year. – Covered California website
Real health insurance for real people
There was a round of applause for the inclusion Pediatric Dental as an essential health benefit from the attendees. A little caveat for children’s dental insurance is that in most cases parents will have to buy a separate plan which includes an additional monthly premium payment. As selling features for the new health plans, the 10 Essential Health Benefits should play a larger role in the presentation. It is just a huge step forward in the evolution individual and family health insurance that all plans will be required to offer maternity and mental health coverage. The health plans offered through Covered California are comprehensive health insurance, not bare bones insurance with gaping holes in the coverage.
Lead Community Organizer Bonnie London, RN, speaks with a volunteer at the Coffee Garden Obamacare launch.
More savings for HIPAA plan members
It’s not an understatement to say that the Affordable Care Act is creating an unprecedented market transformation for health insurance and ultimately health care. I have clients paying $800 per month for a guarantee issue HIPAA plan who will be able to step into $400 per month premium health plan through Covered California, before any subsidy, with a lower deductible and out of pocket maximum. With Obamacare, people completely denied health insurance will have a chance to purchase some piece of mind for themselves and their families against catastrophic health care expenses. This is the reality: most people have no idea about what the new health plans even offer. We need to keep repeating the value proposition of comprehensive benefits at an affordable price. The focus should be on how Obamacare will change and positively impact individuals and families with benefits that are currently out of reach for most people.
Volunteers on fire for health care reform
Sacramento Organizing For Action volunteer, Sue, gets ready for her Covered California presentation.
There is a growing army of volunteers with Organizing For Action and UCDavis that want to get the word out concerning the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. With each presentation they make, their knowledge base will increase and they’ll be able to answer more questions. What is already at a high point is their dedication and enthusiasm level. For many volunteers this is the natural extension of their fight to get health care reform passed in the first place. They are not about to let this monumental piece of legislation, so vital for the health of America, founder for lack of outreach and education.
Where can you get a presentation?
As matter fact, they are looking for more opportunities to discuss the benefits of the new health plans. If you would like a presentation for your church, philanthropic organization or would like to host a party right in your home for family and neighbors contact Lina Mendez at UC Davis Center for Reducing Health Disparities, 916-703-9277. The volunteers are pumped up and ready to get out in the community and spread the good news about affordable, accessible and quality health insurance for all California residents.
