CNNMoney will be hosting a Facebook live chat THIS Friday, September 20th, to answer questions about the Affordable Care Act and to help Americans understand what it means for them.

HCFANY’s own Elisabeth Benjamin, Vice President of Health Initiatives at the Community Service Society, will be on the panel along with Judy Solomon, Vice President for Health Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Timothy Jost, health policy law professor at Washington & Lee University School of Law.

This is your chance to log on and ask those burning ACA questions!

The chat will take place between 2:30pm – 3:30 pm, so if you have time on Friday afternoon be sure to stop by.  For more information, visit the CNN Money event page by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/events/401576496631341/ 

We hope to see you there!

The AARP today announced the availability of a new online tool designed to help people looking for information on the Affordable Care Act.  Its pretty neat and walks you through the changes that will affect you based on criteria you will select, as well as new benefits and options.  You can check the new tool out, called HealthLawAnswers, by clicking here.

This is part of AARP’s ongoing effort to educate people about the health care law by providing resources that are easy to understand.  AARP also created a sister website called HealthLawFacts.org to allow consumers to sort through hand easily find info on specific aspects of the law.

From left: David Sandman – New York State Health Foundation, Mark Hannay – Metro NY Health Care For All Campaign, Kellan Baker – Center for American Progress, and Lois Uttley – Raising Women’s Voices.

 HCFANY launched a new campaign today to provide outreach and education to uninsured LGBT New Yorkers around the new health options that will soon be available via the New York State Health Benefit Exchange.  While health statistics on LGBT populations are not yet widely collected (something we are pushing to change) experts estimate that 1 in 4 LGBT people in the state are uninsured.

The outreach campaign will be headed up by HCFANY’s LGBT Task Force to help prepare people for the health insurance choices they may need to make once enrollment on the Exchange opens on October 1st.

The campaign was kicked off by a press briefing hosted by the New York State Health Foundation to bring attention to the unique needs of LGBT New Yorkers, illustrate how the Affordable Care Act is working to address them, and to lay out next steps.

Speakers included:

• Kellan Baker, Director, LGBT State Exchanges Project, Center for American Progress
• Megan Fisk, Director of Family Services, LGBT Community Services Center of New York
• Mark Hannay, Director, Metro New York Health Care For All Campaign
• Jonathan Lang, Director of Governmental Projects and Community
  Development, Empire State Pride Agenda
• Jay Laudato, Executive Director, Callen-Lorde Community Health Center
• David Sandman, Senior Vice President, New York State Health Foundation
• Lois Uttley, Director, Raising Women’s Voices for the Health Care We Need

The new coverage options afforded by the ACA will benefit LGBT communities by providing wider access to affordable health care, increased data collection (which will work to inform future policy decisions), and a new ban on discrimination based on HIV status and sex, including gender identity.

The LGBT Task Force has been working with state Exchange officials to make sure that same-sex couples have the same opportunities for affordable health coverage.  This includes allowing couples to pool their premium subsidies together to purchase family health plans on the Exchange.

Outreach will start at the June 30 PrideFest in Manhattan, and continue through the summer and fall.

Click here to read a copy of HCFANY’s press release from today.

 

 

Tomorrow (Friday, 4/26), Community Catalyst, Asian Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) and HCFANY member Raising Women’s Voices will be hosting a tweet chat to celebrate Minority Health Month. The subject of the chat will be how the ACA is addressing health disparities. You can expect to hear about topics like language access, consumer engagement,  essential health benefits and the Navigator program, and how these things will affect health disparities.

Health disparities are seen among many different populations, such as communities of color, women, members of the LGBT community, people with disabilities and people who speak another language. Thankfully, ACA gives us a number of opportunities to help address these issues.

To join the Tweet Chat, log onto your Twitter account, or simply search the hashtag #ACAEquity. You can follow and join the conversation with some of these sample tweets below. Interested in how the ACA specifically helps women, women of color and members of the LGBT community? Follow Raising Women’s Voices – New York at www.twitter.com/rwvny.

Here are some sample tweets you can post!

•  The #ACA improves the quality of coverage available to everyone by mandating specific services like maternity care! #ACAEquity.
• Does ur family speak a language other than English? Navigators will help u find health care plans w/docs who speak ur language. #ACAEquity
• If we want the health care law to work for women of color, we need to stay informed. Follow us for up-to-date info! #ACAEquity
• Latinas have the highest incidence of cervical cancer among women of all racial groups. Thanks to #ACA, pap smears are covered w/o copays. #ACAEquity

See you tomorrow at 1 pm! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ACAEquity!  Questions are encouraged!