Vol. 43 No. 18 Published by Acción Latina Septiembre 12–25, 2013 Health care reform poses new options for coverage Reforma de salud presenta nuevas vías de cobertura Gabriela Sierra Alonso Gabriela Sierra Alonso El Tecolote El Tecolote s we face the dawn of ientras vemos el ama- Obamacare, or the Af- necer del Obamacare o A fordable Care Act (ACA) M la Ley de Asistencia on Oct. 1, representatives of the Asequible (ACA, por sus siglas program and community mem- en inglés) para el 1 de octu- bers alike share a common feeling bre próximo, los representantes of confusion. de ACA y miembros de la According to Anne Gonza- comunidad por igual compar- les, Public Information Officer ten un sentimiento común de for Covered California (Covered confusión. CA)— a new, state-run health- Según Ana González, Oficial care marketplace—Oct. 1 will de Información Pública de Cove- be the first day to enroll in new red California (Covered CA, por health care options offered under sus siglas en inglés) —un nuevo the ACA. mercado de la salud estatal— ese Though the ACA will un- uno de octubre será el primer día doubtedly raise the number of de inscripción a las nuevas alter- insured U.S. citizens and legal nativas de seguro médico que se residents, the undocumented ofrecen bajo la ACA. population remains unattended. Aunque la ACA, sin duda, “There are currently about aumentará el número de ciudada- 7.1 million uninsured people in nos estadounidenses y residentes California, about 2.6 million of legales asegurados, la pobla- them are undocumented,” said ción indocumentada seguirá Ruben Cantu, program direc- desatendida. tor at the California Pan Ethnic “Actualmente hay alrededor Health Network (CPEHN), a de 7,1 millones de personas sin See ACA, page 2 Vea SALUD, página 2 Illustration Anthony Mata 2 El Tecolote News Noticias September 12–25, 2013 ACA, from page 1 these figures have the option of formation gap regarding the Latin American Briefs looking into insurance through ACA—especially amongst the statewide organization working to employers, or Covered CA. Latino and African American improve the health of communi- It will be important to criti- communities. Breves de América Latina ties of color. cally examine employer plans in A recent Field Poll survey is- The options for undocu- comparison to Covered CA as sued on Aug. 20 shows that only MEXICO: EDUCATION REFORM PASSES SENATE mented immigrants are limited prices may differ. ¼ of California voters under as “Undocumented communities U.S. citizens and legal resi- 65 years of age know “a lot or Last Wednesday September 4, the parties´ lawmakers supported the will still have to rely heavily on dents who do not acquire health something” about the Covered Mexican Senate passed a major measure (the governing Institu- their community clinics,” said Jen care coverage before March 2014 CA health insurance exchange. education reform which was tional Revolutionary Party –PRI-, Lee, Community Services direc- will be issued an annual pen- Nonetheless, 79 % of Latino, 83 launched by President Enrique the National Action Party –PAN-, tor at Asian Health Services. alty of either 1 percent of their % of African- American and 83% Pena Nieto in late 2012. The and the Party of the Democratic Emiliy Riggs, interim direc- income, or $95—whichever is of non-english speaking voters measure was overwhelmingly op- Revolution -PRD-), while mem- tor of Healthy San Francisco greater. In 2015, the fine is set to have expressed interest in learn- posed by teachers of the Coordi- bers from PT and Movimiento (HSF) assured that participants rise to %2 or $325. ing more about it. nadora Nacional de Trabajadores Ciudadano voted against it. of HSF—a health program avail- However, the penalty will not “The polling we’ve done de la Educación (CNTE), a dis- able to San Francisco residents— apply to people who will have to shows that ethnic communi- sident political fraction countering The plan was introduced within many of whom are undocument- pay more than 8 percent of their ties consistently rely on their the SNTE (Sindicato Nacional de the framework of the Pacto por ed, will not lose coverage under income for health insurance, un- local news media outlets for Trabajadores de la Educación, the México, an agreement inked by the ACA. documented immigrants, people their information.” she said. mainstream teachers’ union). Mexico’s three main political “HSF will not change but who who do not meet the minimum “The media is a very impor- parties, and regards a standard- will be a part of it will change income requirement for filing tant bridge for people to learn Despite teachers’ demonstrations ized system of test-based hiring dramatically,” said Riggs. She taxes, people with religious ex- about this.” in Mexico City for the last two and promotion that would give explained that U.S. citizens and emptions, and people who are weeks, the Senate voted 102-22 the government the tools to break legal residents that qualify for incarcerated. The enrollment period for new in favor of the Law of Profes- teacher’s unions controlling the expanded Medi-Cal coverage (a Small business owners with ACA options (Covered CA, and sional Teaching Service. The main school staff. state health insurance program less than 50 employees will not expanded Medi-Cal) begins on for low-income people) will be be not required to insure their October 1 but coverage does not encouraged to transfer over. employees. Employers with more go into effect until January 2014. BRASIL: CONCERNS AFTER SPYING SCANDAL Riggs said that “HSF will re- than 50 staff members that fail main accessible to the undocu- to offer insurance may be subject For Healthy S.F. Participants: Last June, the Guardian’s journal- national “anti-snooping” email mented community, and for to penalty. ist Glenn Greenwald revealed CIA system that provides an alterna- people that do not qualify for Currently, the Covered CA To learn more about the ACA, and documents showing that the Na- tive to the likes of Gmail and Medi-Cal.” She urged those who website is available in both Eng- see if you qualify for Medi-Cal tional Security Agency (NSA) had Hotmail, other solutions include qualify for Medi-Cal to take ad- lish and Spanish and the basic contact your local Healthy SF access to the entire communica- creating an intranet to process vantage of the program: “Medi- information sheet has been trans- clinic/ assistant. tion network of Brazil’s president, sensitive informationrequiring Cal is insurance, and HSF is lated into 13 different languages. Dilma Rousseff. social networks to keep customer not—with insurance you can get Multilingual call centers are also To apply for Medi-Cal visit www. data within Brazilian borders: care anywhere.” being set up to provide more lan- medi-cal.ca.gov, or visit your On hearing the news, the nation- installing network submarine Moreover, ACA options vary guage access. nearest county social services office. al Brazilian government started cables to link Brazil with Europe depending on household income, Gonzales stressed that Cov- to work out some possible legal status, and plans offered by ered CA has donated millions To shop for plans via Covered CA, solutions, such as developing a See BRIEFS, page 10 employers. of dollars to community clinics/ visit coveredca.com and insert Low-income U.S.citizens or non profit organizations to train your household income and social legal residents (income less than representatives in helping people security number to see what options $15,856 for an individual and with the change. are available to you. $32,499 for a family of four) will According to Sandy Close, be eligible to enroll in Medi-Cal. executive director of New Amer- To see insurance options for Those whose incomes exceed ica Media, there is a vast in- employers visit coveredca.com. SALUD, de página 1 A los ciudadanos estadouni- y organizaciones no lucrativas denses y residentes legales que para capacitar a representantes seguro médico en California, de no adquieran la cobertura médi- que ayuden a la gente con los cuales cerca de 2.6 millones ca antes de marzo de 2014 se les este cambio. son indocumentados”, dijo Rubén aplicará una penalización anual De acuerdo con Sandy Clo- Cantú, director de programas de del 1 por ciento de sus ingre- se, directora ejecutiva de New la red de California Pan Ethnic sos, o $95 —lo que resulte ma- America Media, existe bastante Health, una organización estatal yor. En 2015, la penalización se desinformación relacionada con que trabaja para mejorar la salud elevará al 2 por ciento de sus la ACA —especialmente en- de las comunidades de color. ingresos o $325. tre las comunidades latina y “Las comunidades de indo- Sin embargo, la penalización afroamericana. cumentados aún tendrán que de- no aplicará a personas que tengan Una reciente encuesta reali- pender en gran medida de sus clí- que pagar más del 8 por zada el 20 de agosto, demuestra nicas comunitarias”, dijo Jen Lee, que solo un cuarto de los votan- Miles de docentes bloquearon una de las principales vías de la Ciudad de Directora de servicios de Asian tes de California menores de 65 México y cerraron las inmediaciones de varias televisoras el pasado 27 de Health Services. años sabe “mucho o algo” acerca agosto, en protesta por la reforma educativa y demanda de tiempo aire en “HSF no va a cambiar, pero de Covered CA. Sin embargo, el los medios para hablar sobre sus propuestas. Thousands of teachers block a para aquél que sea parte de ella “Las comunidades de 79% de los latinos, el 83% de los major road in Mexico City and closed off the surrounding areas of several television cambiará dramáticamente”, dijo indocumentados aún afroamericanos y el 83% de los stations on August 27 in protest of the education reform and demanding air time to Emily Riggs, directora interina votantes no hablantes del inglés speak about their proposals.