FIXING WHAT AILS HEALTHCARE IN AMERICA TODAY

PEOPLE OVER POLITICS

WHAT IS THIS?

SKYROCKETING COSTS

MORE AMERICANS HAVE NO INSURANCE

14,000 people lose their health insurance every day

72 million Americans have not enough insurance

54,000,000 lives

47,000,000 lives

National data shows that Southeast Asians and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders especially suffer from:• Low earnings• High poverty rates• High unemployment rates

Health and AAPI

AAPI owned businesses are often in low-paying industries (retail, restaurants, personal service).

AAPI businesses employ fewer workers.

Most AAPI businesses see lower revenue.

Median Family Income

Median Income per Person

Poverty Rate (all families)

Unemployment rate

White, non-Hispanic

69,636 31,735 6.3 6.2

Asians, all 79,145 30,055 8.1 5.9

Vietnamese 59,129 22,263 12.1 6.6

Cambodian 49,226 16,913 13.9 9.6

Hmong 49,918 11,030 24.7 11.5

Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander

60,515 20,286 12.9 9.9

Poverty rates all above 10%Source: Kim, Marlene. 2011. “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Employment Issues in the United States.” AAPI Nexus 9(1-2)

Vulnerable AAPIs can ‘slip through the cracks’ of the health care system due to:

1) Lack of insurance

2) Underinsurance

3) Health disparities

WHY DO WE SPEND SO MUCH AND GET SO LITTLE?

Overall Health Care System Rank

33. Chile34. Denmark35. Dominica 36. Costa Rica

37. United States of America

38. Slovenia39. Cuba40. Brunei

• 39th for infant mortality

• 43rd for adult female

mortality• 42nd for adult male

mortality• 36th for life expectancy

“I would like to apologize to the American people for the role I played 15 years ago in cheating you out of a reformed health care system. Had it not be for greedy insurance companies, special interest groups, with their army of lobbyists, we wouldn’t be here today. I am ashamed that I got caught up in deceitful and dishonest PR campaigns. Hundreds of thousands have died, millions of others have lost their homes and forced into bankruptcy, so a very few corporate executives and their Wall Street Masters could become obscenely rich.”

Wendell Potter (Aug 31,2009)

“What we have now in this country, and what the Insurers are

determined to keep in place, is WALL-STREET HEALTH CARE”

WENDELL POTTER CENTER FOR MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY

AUG. 31, 2009

“We are all in the same boat together”Bill Moyers

“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” Winston Churchill

In 2009, people and patients agreed:

Health reform could not wait.

DOCTORS AND NURSES ANSWERED THE CALL

The Social Security Act (Aug. 14, 1935)

The Civil Rights Act(July 2, 1964)

The Medicare and Medicaid Act(July 31, 1965)

The Voting Rights Act(Aug. 6, 1965)

THE ACA FOCUSES ON 4 MAJOR CHALLENGES

HelpingPatients

Improving Quality

Getting people insured

Controlling Costs

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

Protect people from insurance companies

No more denying insurance to people with pre-existing

conditions

Full implementation by 2014

DIABETESASTHMA

HEART MURMURHEARTBURN

WAS ONCE PREGNANT

ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS

BACK PAIN

DEPRESSION

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

No more lifetime limits on health care

Already started

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

Protect people from insurance companies

PROTECT PEOPLE FROM INSURANCE COMPANIES

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

Insurance companies banned from the practice of “rescission” or “rescinding coverage” except for fraud.

Limits how much people with insurance

have to pay for their deductibles

Full implementation by 2014

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

Protect people from insurance companies

No more discrimination against women

by charging higher rates

Starts January 1st, 2014

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

Protect people from insurance companies

At least 85% of premiums

have to go to medical care (small group/individual markets = 80%)

Already started

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

Protect people from insurance companies

Young adults ages 19-26 can get

insured through their parents

Already started

2,500,000 more young adults covered since 9/23/10 ( 97,000 AAPI and 81,922 in Ohio)

NEW CONSUMER PROTECTIONS

ACA – During the first year…

• ACA provided tax credits to small business, retroactive to Jan 1st, 2010– 147,000 small businesses in Ohio are affected – 38,900 of these would be eligible for full tax credits– Tax credits can encourage small businesses to offer

health insurance to employees to stay competitive– UnitedHealth reported 75,000 new plans sold to

businesses with less than 50 employees ( LATimes, 12/2010)

WHAT ABOUT THE SENIORS ON MEDICARE?

• ACA is helping the Medicare recipient– In 2010, 148,238 Ohio Medicare patients got a

$250 rebate if they are in the “donut hole”– In 2011, 185,014 Ohio Medicare patients received

a 50% discount for brand name drugs – Savings of $512 / person or $94,798,047!!– Nationwide, 3.4 million Americans saved $2.1

billion in 2011.– The donut hole will be closed by 2020.

PREVENTION AND WELLNESSInvest in Prevention and Healthy Choices

The ACA established the National Prevention Council to create a National Prevention Strategy.

WHAT ABOUT PREVENTION AND WELLNESS?

• ACA is helping even more patients with Preventative/Wellness care

New plans required to offer preventative care with no co-pay or deductible– BP, diabetes, cholesterol screening– Cancer screening – Counseling (for weight loss, tobacco cessation, eating

healthy, depression treatment, alcohol use)– Routine vaccinations, flu shots– Regular well baby/well child visits (birth – 21 yrs)

WHAT ABOUT PREVENTION AND WELLNESS?– For Medicare part B

• Annual wellness exam• Screening exams (mammograms, PAP smears, diabetes,

bone mass measurements, colonoscopies, cholesterol/lipids, HIV, prostate CA, flu/pneumonia/Hep. B shots)

• Tobacco cessation counseling • 1,203,274 Medicare Ohioans received free preventative

services!• Nationwide, 54 million Americans with private

insurance (2.1 million Ohioans) received free preventative services!

• 2.7 Million AAPI with private insurance and 867,000 Medicare AAPI received preventative services!

ACA Makes Easier for Women to Get Care

• Well-woman visits• Screening for gestational diabetes, human

papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 and older

• STD’s counseling• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and

counseling• FDA-approved contraception methods and

contraceptive • Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling• Domestic violence screening and counseling

ACA Helping AAPI Women• AAPI women are less likely to receive mammograms

and PAP smears compared to whites (50% and 60% compared to 70% and 80% respectively)

• For colorectal CA, it’s worse (40% in AAPI vs 60% in whites)

• Vietnamese American women have highest rate of cervical CA (5 times higher than non-hispanic whites)

• Mammograms, PAP smears, colorectal screenings would benefit more AAPI women under ACA.

ACA Helping AAPI with Hepatitis B

• AAPI are more likely to have acute and chronic Hepatitis B (2008 data)

• In acute Hep. B, AAPI are 0.5 – 1.6 times higher than non-Hispanic whites.

• In chronic Hep. B, AAPI are 4.6 times higher than non-Hispanic whites

• Under ACA, vaccine against Hepatitis B is covered, benefits AAPI most due to the higher incidence

ACA and AAPI in 2014 and beyond…• Expansion of coverage (via Medicaid eligibility,

Affordable Health Exchanges, or employer based) to 2 -2.5 million AAPI

• Medicaid expansion to families at or below 133% FPL ($30,657 for family of 4)

• Families 133% - 400% FPL ($92,200 family of 4) will be able to purchase subsidized insurance plans from Health Exchanges

• Plans for data collection/research to address health disparity and to eliminate them in AAPI populations

The Affordable Care Act extends greater consumer protections to all Ohioans.

•The Affordable Care Act makes health insurance more affordable for economically vulnerable AAPI groups and business owners.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act“Happy Birthday! You are 2 yrs old!!”

• Was passed into law on March 23rd, 2010

• It is the Law of the Land• It is a great start and

let’s improve it and build on it

• Protect it and defend it• Educate, engage, and

empower others!