COME JOIN THE CONVERSATION on HEALTH INSURANCE EXCHANGES!!!

LIVE FROM THE WILDER FOUNDATION this WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13TH. BE THERE BY 6:30PM.

 

 

The second in our series and first of these live broadcasts will take place on March 13th, originating from the Wilder Foundation Building (map) at 451 Lexington Parkway in Saint Paul near University Ave starting at 6:30PM. This important discussion will cover the key players in the development of the Health Insurance Exchanges mandated by the 2010 Affordable Care Act. ALL Minnesotans are invited and encouraged to join the audience that night … or LISTEN in at 7:00 PM on KFAI FM 90.3/106.7 or streamed at www.KFAI.org.

Most Minnesotans now meet their healthcare needs through HMO’s – nonprofit Health Maintenance Organizations – groups like BlueCross Blue Shield or Health Partners – or private Fee-for-Service Plans. Many get all or part of their health insurance through their employers – a dwindling benefit for most. Thousands get none of those benefits at all. Several other plans serve us here:

129,000 residents are covered through MinnesotaCare. MinnesotaCare is a publicly subsidized program for mostly working residents with no other access to affordable health care coverage. Members pay a monthly premium on a sliding scale based on their income.

Another 26,000 Minnesotans are covered by the little-known Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, or MCHA. MCHA offers individual coverage to state residents the private market has turned down for insurance because of a pre-existing condition.

Yet another 733,000  – fully 14% of the state’s population – are on Medical Assistance, or MA.MA is Minnesota’s version of Medicaid. Eligibility is based on income. For example, a single adult making less than $700 a month may be eligible for MA.

Still, nearly 440,000 – about 8% of all Minnesotans – have no health insurance at all.

Come 2014, however, the healthcare landscape in Minnesota will change – dramatically.

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was signed into law almost exactly three years ago – March 23, 2010. In 2014, a new way to get health coverage will be what the act calls the Health Insurance Marketplace – what we call Health Insurance Exchanges.

Producer/Host Andy Driscoll and Associate Producer/Co-host Michelle Alimoradi, in concert with community and media partners, are bringing to live audiences – right in their neighborhoods/communities – conversations on important issues like education, the environment, health care, politics and elections, transportation, Native concerns, youth issues and more, into the key communities affected by these respective topics.

We’ve added an important perspective to our conversation today, Tuesday, March 12 – that of progressive small businesses.**

TruthToTell: Community Connections  and CivicMedia/MN are partnering with KFAI community radio, St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), and selected community partners** to present these discussions and dialogues for radio, television and online distribution. Each program is recorded live before a studio audience the second Wednesday of every month and aired the following Monday – in TruthToTell’s regular slot at 9:00 AM on KFAI, 90.3FM, Minneapolis, 106.7FM, St. Paul, and online at KFAI.org, and at 8:00 PM on television on SPNN St. Paul Cable Channel 19, and MTN Minneapolis Cable Channel 16.

KFAI Radio (FM90.3/106.7 and streamed live at KFAI.org) will occasionally air episodes of Community Connections live on selected Second Wednesday evenings at 7pm (check our websites for which). This coming Wednesday is the first of our live productions.

Guests:

SARAH GREENFIELD – Health Care Program Manager for TakeAction/Minnesota and policy lead on Health Benefits Exchanges at the Legislature

PAUL SOBOCINSKI – Rural Health Policy Program Organizer, Land Stewardship Project based in Wabasso, Minnesota

ELIZABETH FROST, MD – CoChair, Physicians for a National Health Plan – Minnesota

**AUDREY BRITTON – Board Member, Small Business Minnesota