The elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about these days because many are hoping the subject will just go away is ‘mandatory health insurance’ for everyone and if you don’t have insurance you will be penalized! According to Forbes, “This week’s double-barreled release of government statistics on health insurance coverage leaves us with only one question: How many Americans are insured because of Obamacare? Remarkably, the two highly-regarded government surveys released this week do not even agree whether the number of uninsured increased or decreased. The survey that received a great deal of attention said there were 3.8 million fewer uninsured. The other, which was hardly noticed, found that there were 1.3 million more uninsured” says Joseph Antos.
With the window of opportunity for Obama Affordable Health Care quickly approaching for people to sign up on February 15, 2015 (which is the deadline) and so many people still in need of health insurance; the Alabama NAACP Health Committee has arranged free conference calls for information to be given to those in need of insurance. The phone calls are not limited to any age, race, sex, or political party; these calls are free and designed for everyone and anyone! Anytime following the call (before the deadline) enrollments can be made over the phone or speak with Abra Barnes to set up an appointment. Abra Barnes and her associates of United Brokers for AC/Obamacare will provide the information on the calls and the Alabama NAACP Health Coordinator will moderate the calls to ensure the calls are informative, concise, and providing the information needed so that people can make informed decisions about something so personal as health care for themselves and their families.
The conference calls are being made available to anyone by calling 805-360-1000 and the participant access code is100460# (once on the line please introduce yourself and dial #6 to mute and unmute yourself). Only 100 people can come onto any one call, so I suggest you call in a few minutes early to ensure you are on the call that best suits you. There will be time designated throughout the call for questions, so we strongly suggest that people on the call write down their questions and ask when prompted. If there are more personal situations/questions that need to be addressed and/or discussed, we ask that you do that off line, 1 on 1 with Abra Barnes by calling 205-222-9759. The dates and times for the calls are as follows: Thursday, January 29, at 6p.m.; Sunday, February 1, at 4p.m.; Tuesday, February 3, at 10a.m.; Saturday, February 7, at 9a.m.; Wednesday, February 11, at 5p.m. and, Friday, and the last call will take place on February 13, at 9a.m.
I encourage people to be proactive about their own health care and make informed decisions and this is your chance to do so! Don’t underestimate the government who will penalize you if you do not have some type of health insurance in place by February 15, 2015. According to www.healthcare.gov, “If you don’t have coverage in 2015, you’ll pay the higher of these two amounts:
•2% of your yearly household income. (Only the amount of income above the tax filing threshold, about $10,000 for an individual, is used to calculate the penalty.) The maximum penalty is the national average premium for a bronze plan.
•$325 per person for the year ($162.50 per child under 18). The maximum penalty per family using this method is $975.”
I urge you to handle your business now or the government will handle it for you later!
Tina Kay Hughes, Alabama NAACP Health Coordinator
