El Semanario
Posted on 04-05-2012

Latinos benefiting from Affordable Care Act

Obama for América released a report last week detailing how Latinos are already benefitting from the President's landmark health reforms and an online tool that helps Spanish speakers calculate the benefits they will receive under the Affordable Care Act. The report and health care calculator were announced on a conference call featuring Gabriela Domenzain, Director of Hispanic Media for Obama for América and Claudia Sánchez, nurse practitioner from New México.
“The numbers outlined in the report entitled ‘Better Healthcare for Hispanics’ really speak for themselves,” stated Gabriela Domenzain, Director of Hispanic Media for Obama for América. “It’s clear that President Obama is listening to the needs of our community. Thanks to President Obama’s leadership, driven by his belief that affordable health insurance you can rely on should be a part of the middle class bargain, an estimated 9 million Hispanic Americans are expected to gain coverage once the law is fully implemented. If Mitt Romney and the extreme, GOP candidates get their way, millions of Hispanics would lose the peace of mind that comes with being able to count on the protections and benefits that the affordable care act has given them. In fact, one of the central pillars of all of the Republican presidential candidates’ campaigns is repealing the Affordable Health Care Act. There are people depending on the benefits and services that health care reform provides, Latinos stand to lose the most from its repeal and we simply cannot allow Romney and his Republican colleagues to get their way.”
From seniors whose Medicare is now stronger, to families who at no extra cost can now get preventative care such as diabetes detection screenings or life-saving mammograms and no longer have to worry about their children losing their coverage because they were born with pre-existing conditions, the report outlines how Hispanic families are already seeing the President’s healthcare reform law improving their health care while saving them money. The Affordable Care act, signed on March 23rd, 2010 has already expanded access to preventative services for 6.1 million Hispanic Americans with private insurance, provided free preventative services to 532,000 Latinos on Medicare and allowed 736,000 young Latinos to remain on their parents health insurance.
“The difficulties that Hispanic families had to face before the Affordable care act were simply unacceptable,” said Sánchez. “From a personal and professional standpoint, I believe in the President’s record on and commitment to accessible and affordable healthcare. In the 35 years that I have practiced nursing and medicine, I have gone from seeing children who lacked the care they needed to receive lifesaving surgeries to now seeing how many of my elderly patients are given the care that they need to live their last years with peace of mind because the expansions to their Medicare coverage. Many of the families I worked with, because of lack of information or language barriers, did not know about the unjust practices of their health care providers until it was too late. Now we have rights, protections and services that we have never had before and I am so thankful that Obama for América has created a bilingual tool where my patients and their families can learn more about the way that the President’s comprehensive health reform has impacted them. I encourage all of you to go online and use the new tool, it is an easy way for us to help others learn more about their rights and what type of care they can count on in the present and in the future.”
Read the Health Care report in English: http://www.barackobama.com/news/entry/better-health-for-hispanics
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