The ACA in Newark: Where Do We Go From Here?

Steve Adubato sits down with four experts to evaluate the last two years of the Affordable Care Act in Newark. The experts explain how the city’s hospitals/ERs are affected by the ACA, where enrollment efforts and/or education is still needed and how they are preparing to treat the influx of insured through Medicaid expansion. Guests Include: Maura Collinsgru, Health Care Program Director, New Jersey Citizen Action; Roslyn Collins, President & CEO, Planned Parenthood Metropolitan NJ; Rakelmis Montas, Health Services Unit Manager, La Casa de Don Pedro and Dr. Ana Natale-Pereira, Associate Professor of Medicine/Division Director, General Internal Medicine Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School.

12/17/16 #2595

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Welcome to Caucus New Jersey. I'm Steve Adubato. People are increasingly enrolling for health insurance. But you know, education and outreach are still needed. Joining me in the studio to discuss healthcare reform in the City of Newark, we have, Maura Collinsgru, Healthcare Program Director at New Jersey Citizen Action, Roslyn Collins, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey, Rakelmis Montas, who is Health Services Unit Manager at La Casa de Don Pedro, we're also joined by Doctor Ana Natale-Pereira, Division Director of General Internal Medicine at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and I want to thank you all for joining us. Let's talk about where we are in the city of Newark when it come to the ACA, but also the question, Maura, of where we need to go? Like why are we talking about, frankly, the ACA in Newark, as opposed to the state of New Jersey? Or the country? Why is it any different? Well in Newark, we have a large population of people who are still uninsured. We've made great progress, we've cut the uninsured rate approximately in half, across the state. But we know from where we started, and where we are now, that we still have tens of thousands of people living in Newark and the surrounding county who are eligible for coverage, who are not yet enrolled. Okay, let's play this out. The question is what is it about the population in and around the city of Newark that would have a higher percentage of people not enrolled? A lot of publicity, a lot of information, a lot of people saying "Here it is. Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act. It's happening." What did they miss? Did they miss the email? Did they miss the memo? I think they also... there's a limitation of knowledge, a knowledge base. I think that happens within our city. So look at Newark's 280,000 people right? And... Right. In 22 square miles? Right? Yes. Right. So when you look at the city, and you begin to look at who can get what portion of the reform, right? So there's the Medicaid expansion part of the reform. Could you explain that part? Because we're doing okay there, right? On the Medicaid expansion. Right, so we have expanded... Right. ...on Medicaid? More people are signing up for Medicaid..."