On Wednesday, October 23, 2013, V-103 and WAOK partnered with Enroll America, Grady Health System and other healthcare agencies to educate citizens on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Among the panelists were Erica Long, political strategist, Dante McKay, state director of Enroll America, Dorian Martindale, community enrollment and outreach specialist, Whitefoord, Inc. and Rick Rhine, senior vice president of Revenue Cycle for Grady Health System.
Panelists spoke frankly to the audience about the importance and benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Erica Long opened the forum giving a simplified breakdown of the healthcare policy, and McKay and Martindale moved the conversation along by discussing the importance of the newest outreach role, navigators. Navigators also referred to as, certified application counselors are volunteers that assist citizens in understanding and navigating through www.healthcare.gov and learning more about ACA.
Martindale candidly spoke about his passion for being a navigator and helping local citizens through his organization Whitefoord, Inc. “Let’s just say my passion is bigger than my paycheck, but I love what I do.” Rick Rhine, Grady Health System, rounded out the panel discussion portion with an amazing statement that left the audience at ease about ACA. “The Affordable Care Act is not a perfect plan, but it is an amazing plan,” stated Rhine.
The event moved into a Q&A session where audience members were able to receive clarification on any ACA related questions. Audience members received answers on a variety of topics including: how the ACA could cause a population shift, how soon the insurance plans would go into effect after the purchase of the insurance, and some members shared their experiences successfully using www.healthcare.gov. The night ended with a strong message about the future of politics from Long that received a roar of applauds from the crowd. “What really needs to happy is that we really have to pay more attention to the elections.”
Open enrollment to sign up for new health insurance has begun. For more information visit www.healthcare.gov.
