Affordable Care Act
BACH has connected community organizations with Health Care for All to hold Affordable Care Act informational sessions for neighborhood residents. We have partnered with NAACP Health Committee, Mission Hill Health Movement, and Hancock Civic Association in Dorchester. Those who attended were able to ask questions about how the new reform would affect their insurance or medical coverage specifically.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) signifies the most influential national welfare policy created in over four decades. The ACA aims to increase the quality and affordability of health insurance for all U.S. citizens. It requires that insurance companies cover all applicants within new minimum standards and forbids the increase of rates for people with pre-existing conditions. Among the new rights and protections guaranteed under the ACA are free preventive care, the coverage of young adults under the age of 26, insurance companies being accountable for rate increases, and insurance companies being required to cover people with pre-existing health conditions.
Some changes for Massachusetts are new plans which now include dental coverage, an increase in income level requirements, which means more people will qualify for Medicaid, and MassHealth will replace Commonwealth Care. Families are now able to comparison shop for a multitude of quality, affordable plans tailored to individual needs in the new Health Insurance Marketplace, mahealthconnector.org.
To help with the transition many organizations have hired Navigators and Certified Application Counselors (CACs) to help individuals understand the new coverage options available and find the most affordable coverage that meets their needs. Boston Public Health Commission is also holding information sessions. Similarly, Healthcare For All is reaching out to individuals and families in the Spanish and Portuguese speaking communities to explain the benefits coming to Massachusetts through the ACA by implementing their own information sessions.
If you need information or help navigating the Marketplace CACs are located at many community health centers and hospitals across Boston. For additional information about the BPHC information sessions, please contact Beth Baker, Director of Health Access & Wellness Services at the Boston Public Health Commission, BBaker@bphc.org.
Social Resilience Model Workshop
In exploring different strategies to build resilience in the face of trauma, BACH sponsored a community workshop attended by 50 people at Haley House. Drs. Loree Sutton and Laurie Leitch explained a social resilience model, based on neuroscience, where individuals and communities can learn to stay in the “resilient zone.” They have implemented this model all over the world, including after natural disasters such as the earthquake in Haiti and the genocide in Rwanda, as well as domestic communities facing the everyday traumas that result from racism, substance abuse, and violence, among other things. BACH is exploring opportunities to bring this model to Boston’s neighborhoods.
APHA
In November, BACH was able to send community residents from Franklin Field/Franklin Hill Healthy Dorchester Coalition to the American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting & Exposition in Boston. This event brought together over 13,000 national and international educators, researchers, epidemiologists and health professionals to address current and emerging health science, policy, and practice issues in an effort to prevent disease and promote health. BACH has web access to documents and recordings of many sessions. If you are interested in accessing them, please email David Aronstein at daronstein@hria.org.