ObamaCare: Spreading The Good News

by Africa (@lawalazu)

Chuck Todd inspired me to contact all my local media about presenting the facts on Obamacare. I sent this to my local paper yesterday. The executive editor replied me.

This is my letter:

I wish to make a suggestion to the News Journal. Please bear me out and read this to the end.

On October 1, the Affordable Care Act will go into effect. This law will impact the lives of millions of Americans. However there is a lot that many residents may not know about the law. Once implemented, the law is expected to help some 30 million Americans.

Already it is making an impact:

– Medicare’s preventive benefits now come with a free visit with your primary care doctor every year to plan out your prevention services. And there are no more co-pays for preventative services in Medicare.

– Small businesses get big tax credits—up to 50 percent of premium costs—for offering health insurance to their workers.

– Insurers with unusually high administrative costs have to offer rebates to their customers, and every insurance company has to reveal how much it spends on overhead.

– Free birth control and other preventative services for women, unless you work for a faith based organization that opposes birth control.

– Seniors get $250 towards closing the “doughnut hole” in their prescription drug coverage.

(Mother Jones)

And there is much, much more to come once the law is implemented.

I wonder if your newspaper would consider doing a town hall and inviting Pensacolans to hear about what the law offers. Many people do not know some of the simple, but major benefits in the law. For example, that no longer will people be denied service because of pre-existing conditions. Parents who wish to keep their children on their health insurance will be able to do so until the children turns 26. People suffering with substance abuse and mental health issues will no longer go uncovered. Under ACA, they will have insurance.

Just Wednesday, I was able to share this fact with the mother of a 22-year-old, who has a heart condition. While his condition is stable now, she wanted to make sure he had health insurance, in case he ever got sick again. I informed her about the pre-existing component. I also told her that her child could remain on her insurance until 26, if she so desired.

No longer will pregnancies be considered a pre-existing condition.

There are hundreds of thousands like this mom out there. A little bit of information will help residents. The goal is not to convince anyone, but present the facts about the law.

Many companies are already promoting the law.

For example, WebMd, the immensely popular medical Website, is breaking down and explaining the law. CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aide, Blue Cross Blue Shield are all partnering to promote and explain the benefits of the law. Companies like the NFL Baltimore Ravens, D.C. United Soccer major league are promoting the law, as well as a host of celebrities.

Information is easily accessed at healthcare.gov

There is also a lot of misinformation about the law out there. One of the reasons the media exists is to educate and correct information when it is distorted. People should be given the facts so that they can make decisions that will be beneficial to them and their loved ones.

I am passionate about the implementation of this law because I have a chronically ill husband. But beyond that, as a social worker, it bothers me that millions of poor people stand to benefit from the law, but are unaware of the facts.

This will be a great service for the people in the four-county area or as far as you coverage goes. Communities should be aware. Perhaps partnering with health care organizations in the community will help. Provide a “Did You Know,” segment, etc.

If you have made it this far, THANK YOU very much and I hope you will give this idea some consideration. Or at the very least allow me, as a private citizen, some space to write a piece on how I think the law will help many, many residents in our communities.

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Executive Editor Response:

Hello, ____!

We actually have tossed around the idea of that kind of thing and have not ruled it out. But in the meantime, we are in overdrive on putting together content to break the law down for our readers. On Sept. 29, we are publishing a 24-page guidebook to the new law and its benefits.

Good to hear from you.

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Epically fantastic Africa – thank you sooooooo much for this!

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 If you have health insurance and you like it, you can keep it—and you’re already getting benefits because of Obamacare:

* Free preventive care, including check—ups and vaccinations

* Money back if your insurance company doesn’t spend at least 80% of your premium on care

* No more lifetime limits on how much your insurance company will pay for

* Children and young adults can stay on their family plans until they turn 26

More here

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Lots more on Obamacare through the week, if you have any suggestions for news/information you’d like to see featured, just drop me an email at theobamadiary@gmail.com – thank you!

PS I mentioned earlier about the wacky number of hits the blog has been getting this week, thanks largely to the fairly stupendous work of the blog tyrants – I should have mentioned, some of them were RWNJs …. so let’s blind them with Obamacare facts. 😉