Affordable Care Act Update: Implementing Medicare Cost Savings.

Transcription

1 Networking Collaboration Community Empowerment News from Council May 2013 Affordable Care Act Update: Implementing Medicare Cost Savings. On May 17, 2013, Asian Health and Social Service Council (AHSSC) hosted its monthly meeting at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center in Manhattan. The title of the presentation was Affordable Care Act Update: Implementing Medicare Cost Savings. Maggie Wong, Coordinator of Marketing Programs at CBWCHC and the VP of AHSSC, gave welcoming remarks and an introduction to her program at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center. Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, Director of Project CHARGE of the Coalition for Health Access to Reach Greater Equity in NYC, presented an overview of key provisions of the ACA impacting Asian Americans. In addition, she provided some ACA updates and specific developments from the last six months and discussed the next steps with the ACA.

2 Noilyn briefly described Project CHARGE which was formed in 2007 and has 16 organizational partners. The purpose of CHARGE is to increase the capacity of community based organizations to do policy/advocacy with the goal of ensuring access to health care. On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law puts in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that will roll out over four years and beyond. Noilyn stated there are 47 million uninsured individuals nationally and 2.6 million of them are New Yorkers. There are 50% of uninsured adults in NYS who work full-time jobs. Noilyn stated one million people will gain insurance due to the full implementation impact of Exchange and Reforms in NY. With ACA, 1) new coverage options and standard benefits will be offered, 2) new way to shop and buy insurance (marketplace), and 3) new timeline, mandates, and tax changes for individuals and businesses. An Exchange is defined as an organized marketplace where it allows easy comparison of health plan options, tax credits can be obtained and a single, streamline application for enrollment. There are two programs: individual exchange and employer exchange called the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). The functions of the Exchange with regards to eligibility and enrollment include: 1) toll-free telephone hotline, 2) web portal for eligibility determination and enrollment, 3) ability to calculate the actual cost of coverage after individual tax credits and cost sharing reductions and 4) certify individuals as exempt from individual responsibility. A health consumer can choose from 4 options which include 10 health benefits: platinum, gold, silver and bronze. Platinum option has the highest premium but lowest cost-cost sharing. The eligibility to enroll in the Exchange include: 1) NYS Resident, 2) Under the age of 65 years (unless you are a caretaker or a parent), 3) citizen, legal permanent resident or lawfully present in the US, 4) do not have access to adequate or affordable employer sponsored coverage, and 5) own or work for a small business with 2 to 50 employees. Noilyn stated that ACA helped NY so far in the following areas: 1) parents can keep their children on their health insurance until age 26, 2) Medicare donut hole is phasing out, 3) preventive care services are free, 4) ban on lifetime limits on health benefits, and 5) small businesses can get tax credits to cover up to 35% of providing health insurance to employees. With regards to timeline of next steps, Noilyn stated that grassroots outreach activities began in April Health plans would be selected in July 2013 for participating in In-person assistor/navigators would be announced and training will begin in July & August Customer service will be open for business in September 2013 along with advertising campaign. Open enrollment will begin on October 1 through March 31, Coverage will begin in January Noilyn provided the following links to some useful website: Federal Health Reform: New York State Health Benefit Exchange: NYC Health Insurance Link:

3 Executive Members Senior Advisors: Selina Chan, Kenneth Lam, Edward Ma Advisor: Susan Wong President: Teresa Lin Vice President: David Chau Treasurer: Serene Nie Secretaries: Kieu Loan Mia Eva Wong Committee Chairs Event Frank Liang Pending Media Maggie Wong Pending** Membership Jane Wong Research Kieu Loan Mia Advocacy Edward Ma Website Pending: North Star Pending Address: 39 Bowery, PMB 135 New York NY Tel: Monthly Meeting Agenda Emergency Preparedness: How to Get Yourself and Others Ready During this meeting, not only you will learn the latest updates and training to equip yourself in emergency situations, you will also be provided with the tools to conduct your own Emergency Preparedness workshop at your own organization. Date: Friday, June 21, 2013 Time: 9am 11:15am Location: UnitedHealthcare 168 Centre Street, 4th Fl New York, NY :00 Coffee/Networking 9:30 Welcome Remarks: Teresa Lin - President, AHSSC Carol Yam - Business Manager, UnitedHealthcare 9:45 Main Presentation: Daniel Lim, Emergency Preparedness Specialist NYC Office of Emergency Management 10:45 Q & A 11:00 Agency Sharing 11:15 Meeting Adjourn info@ahssc.org

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