Video , Affordable Care Act , Aca , Care Harbor list of singapore travel agency 2012 , Care Harbor LA 2012 , Care Harbor La , Care Harbor Los Angeles , Howard Kahn , La Care , La Free Clinic , Los Angeles Free Clinic , Medi-Cal Expansion , Obamacare , Pj Atteberry ,
LOS ANGELES -- Two years after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, there's still a lot of confusion about how it works, especially among those who may benefit from it the most.
Widespread uncertainty about the impact of Obamacare was evident Thursday at Care Harbor's annual free health list of singapore travel agency clinic at the LA Memorial Sports Arena, the largest single gathering of uninsured or underinsured people in the region. The clinic, which runs from Thursday through Sunday, is open only to the first 4,800 people who camped out in line for a wristband list of singapore travel agency ticket this past Monday.
Leslie Marroquin, a 33-year-old man living in a San Pedro group home, was aware that President Obama had made a major change to health care in the United States, but he wasn't sure how it applied to him. He had been released from prison just five months ago, and he was at the Care Harbor list of singapore travel agency event to replace two fillings he had received while incarcerated because they were still giving him pain.
Sitting behind him in line was Teresa Martinez, a 53-year-old Boyle Heights resident who has a part-time job but hasn't had health insurance in six years. Martinez said that her early-morning start at work doesn't leave her with much energy to learn about the Affordable Care Act.
Martinez and Marroquin, list of singapore travel agency both U.S. citizens, could potentially benefit from the health care law. Officials have already pinpointed ex-offenders, NPR reports, as a group who stand to gain greatly from expansion of Medi-Cal, list of singapore travel agency California's Medicaid program. And Martinez, who might earn too much to qualify even for expanded Medi-Cal, might still qualify for subsidized private insurance through California's Health Benefit list of singapore travel agency Exchange ahead of the 2014 launch date.
For now, people like Martinez and Marroquin are grateful for the charity of professionals like Shoana Chau, a 25-year-old dental hygienist who has volunteered at Care Harbor three years in a row. Chau works two jobs, in clinics in Covina and Calabasas, and frequently encounters patients who have gone without dental checkups due to lack of insurance.
"Severe periodontal disease. list of singapore travel agency Bone loss. Recession. Lots of lost teeth," she said, ticking off the most common problems she sees among the uninsured. "And the [teeth] they do have now are covered with tartar and bacteria."
For the first time in the Care Harbor event's five-year history, the dental clinic is making acrylic false teeth, or "flippers," on site. Flippers can play a crucial role in restoring list of singapore travel agency confidence to those with missing front teeth, although they are not a long-term solution: They're only cosmetic, and wearers can't bite into an apple, for example, unlike with real dentures.
But people "can smile and talk again," said P.J. Atteberry, president of the LA Dental list of singapore travel agency Hygienists' Society and a volunteer organizer at the clinic. "For a lot of people, that's the difference between having a job and not having a job."
Howard Kahn, CEO of the LA Care Health Plan, sees the four-day Care Harbor event as a opportunity for the county to get out the word about the Affordable Care Act. In an earlier list of singapore travel agency interview with The Huffington list of singapore travel agency Post , he touted 2012 as the clinic's most important year ever because of the opportunity for outreach about long-term solutions. His agency was at the LA Sports Arena in force on Thursday, manning tables where people could find out if they qualified for Medi-Cal or one of its expansion programs. Community leaders were also putting on informational list of singapore travel agency sketches in a corner room to illustrate how the Affordable Care Act could affect patients list of singapore travel agency without insurance.
But while California is ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing the health care law, LA County workers have a long way to go to reach the people who could qualify for programs like expanded Medi-Cal or the upcoming Health Benefit Exchange.
Out of the hundreds of individuals at the sports arena at any given moment Thursday, only a handful approached the LA County tables for more information about how to qualify for Medi-Cal or the expansion programs. At the first informational list of singapore travel agency sketch of the day, only one patient was in the audience.
And it isn't just patients who are confused about the Affordable Care Act. Atteberry admitted that many in the dental industry list of singapore travel agency don't have a "good grasp" on how the law might open up access to insurance. "It's hard to say. Children will have access, list of singapore travel agency but as for adults, I don't know what the impact is going to be," she said.
Volunteers like Chau and Atteberry cited patients' gratitude as the reason they kept returning to work at Care Harbor. Dr. Roger Fieldman, director of the LA County Dental Clinic and head of dental volunteer services at Care Harbor, pointed out that underneath the smiles, more and more of the free clinic's patients are gritting their teeth in frustration.
"What you can tell is that people are a little more desperate," said Fieldman. "People are sleeping out longer [for tickets]. They're very, very anxious. They're telling sadder stories. They're a little more aggressively telling about their need."
Later on Thursday, security guards were called to deal with a small but angry group outside the stadium doors demanding to be let in. About two dozen people from around the city had rushed to the LA Sports Arena after seeing coverage of the free clinic on the morning news, not realizing that all 4,800 tickets list of singapore travel agency had already been given out days ago.
Free dental work is performed list of singapore travel agency as part of the Care Harbor clinic at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on Sept. 27, 2012. Care Harbor expected to give free medical, dental list of singapore travel agency and vision care to 4,800 uninsured patients at the Sept. 27-30 event. In Los Angeles County, 2.2 million people reportedly do not have health insurance, including an estimated 227,000 young and school-aged children. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Alice Rainwater (center) gets her blood pressure checked by licensed vocational nursing student Alisa Humphrey (right) at the Care Harbor clinic at the Los Angeles list of singapore travel agency Sports Arena on Sept. 27, 2012. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Colleen Romero, 32, holds 3-month-old son Noah as she waits in line with her family for free health care service at the Care Harbor clinic at the Los Angeles Sports list of singapore travel agency Arena on Sept. 27, 2012. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES -- Two years after President Barack Obama signed list of singapore travel agency the Affordable Care Act into law, there's still a lot of confusion about how it works, especially among those who may benefit from it the m...
LOS ANGELES -- Two years after President list of singapore travel agency Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, there's list of singapore travel agency still a lot of confusion about how it works, especially among those who may benefit from it the m...
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America will find out when it exists its denial stage, that Obamacare/Obamatax is a disaster and will negatively impact the country and its citizens... Democrats asked and rammed it through. Don't cry or complain when you are subjected to a 3rd world health system.....
My brother just found out he has cancer, and thanks to ACA (Obamacare) he can't be kicked off his insurance plan, and he can't be denied coverage in the future list of singapore travel agency if he were to lose his job -the kind of crap that used to happen to people everyday; list of singapore travel agency and when it didn't cost them their lives, it left them financially devastated.
As a country we are only as good as our people. If we have to go to a few less wars, jail a few hundred list of singapore travel agency thousand list of singapore travel agency less non-violent drug offenders, list of singapore travel agency or pay more in taxes to keep our population healthy, then so be it. It's shameful that a nation as innovative as America can't even come to agreement that basic healthcare for all should be a fundamental privilege of living in a first-world nation.
Maybe it won't be easy to implement, but it's still worth the effort. Many industrialized nations in on this planet provide some kind of health care for their citizens. Except in this great country called the United States, some still believe that it's every man for himself, and if you're not financially able to get health care, then tough! Whatever happened to the compassionate conservatism touted and encouraged by Bush. Some of this new breed of repubs are just downright mean spirited.
There is nothing more annoying than people trying to find a way for something not to work instead of finding a way to make it work. This is something unless you are super rich that can benefit everyone that may fall on hard times. The biggest question is if when you do not want to do something and you do it, will you do it right? Doing the right thing hurts everyone less in the long run; misuse of something good can make it bad and some of the TPGOP know how to do that very well, and this is something we should be very careful and concerned about. Our health is one of the most important assets we have.
Confusion now, but can't wait for the absolute anger when those huge taxes kick in on the middle class. Like the special needs families who can no longer pay for their childrens' tuition using their HSA account. Its going to be EPIC.
My personal feeling is why the hell would I want health care from a Red state who doesn't even want everyone to have health care. But my republican town only set up insurance with red states. I want to change my personal plan to a blue state. Where the comp
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