Precinct Reporter Group News

Top Menu

  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Buy Adspace
  • Hide Ads for Premium Members

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Food
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Buy Adspace
  • Hide Ads for Premium Members

logo

Precinct Reporter Group News

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • Subscribe
  • Target: Black Leaders Reject Corporate Spin

  • Undersheriff Horace Boatwright Succumbs at 62

  • Help for Families: I.E. Legal Aid Providers Brace for Cuts

  • Higher Ed Budget Cuts: Threat to Students

  • Prop 36 Triggering Arrest Surge in CA

Latest PRGNews
Home›Latest PRGNews›Black Enrollment in Covered CA, Free Medical Services

Black Enrollment in Covered CA, Free Medical Services

By Precinct Reporter News
November 16, 2023
2021
0
Share:

By Dianne Anderson

Cornelious “CJ,” Page Jr. tries to find middle ground for folks having problems affording the affordable Covered California, which has larger families struggling to make the payments.

If people are single, he said it’s probably not so bad, but for families with a few kids, regular costs for urgent care or increased doctor visits all add up to being out of reach for lower income Black families.

“Unless they have a higher income that could afford a nice Covered California [plan], I’ll be honest, it sucks. It’s not doing anything for African Americans in the region,” said Page, founder and Executive Director of Community Health Action Network (CHAN) in Victorville.

Medi-Cal is another option. He has a friend who finally got insured with a new job, but for a while, he and his wife had no coverage.

“He didn’t have a steady job. He was laid off, trying to get coverage and his wife needed surgery,” he said. “I was going to get him into Medi-cal fast so he would be stable and she could get her surgery.”

Another friend grapples with access to services that her healthcare contract says it provides. Diagnosed with leukemia, her large popular healthcare provider said they couldn’t do anything for her, and sent her to the City of Hope.

The problem is, she doesn’t drive. He’s trying to help her push a complaint through to the top.

“They said, we do transportation, but literally they don’t do it out there. I’m her advocate. Her life depends on that appointment two days a week, and dealing with transfusions, the whole kit and caboodle.”

Page receives different streams of funding to keep his nonprofit strong. They offer health and wellness services, advocacy, child seat safety, food vouchers and emergency utilities, to name a few.

Right now, he holds a weekly health series focused on African American heart health, cutting back on sodium for hypertension and stroke prevention. They also check blood pressure. This diabetes awareness month, the topic is ketoacidosis.

Physical exercise is also at crisis levels in the community. To get moving, he created “I Walk” at the local mall in Victorville, which averages about 120 seniors everyday committed to walking miles around the mall.

With a $20,000 grant from the Inland Empire Community Foundation Black Equity Initiative, he was able to jumpstart his vision.

“Walking lowers blood pressure and strengthens your bones, and that’s why I included the education component. We’re doing the series to understand the [test data], numbers is a life-saving situation,” he said.

He said that IE-CF has been very informative with their budgeting programs, and they are bringing grant awardees together to learn more about the nonprofit capacity-building processes.

According to a 2022 KFF study, high healthcare costs are disproportionately impacting uninsured Black and Hispanic adults, and those with lower incomes. A large representation of both groups report delaying or forgoing medical care due to the cost.

Ad 23

“Those who are covered by health insurance are not immune to the burden of health care costs. About one-third of insured adults worry about affording their monthly health insurance premium, and 44% worry about affording their deductible before health insurance kicks in,” the report said.

Craig Tomiyoshi, spokesperson for Covered California, said help is available through federal plans and acts for people who fall in a financial gray area. In the past two years, the American Rescue Plan ensures no one pays more than 8.5% of household income on Covered California coverage.

In the past decade, Covered California has reduced the state’s uninsured rate to a historic low of 6.5%.

Over 90% of Covered California enrollees receive financial assistance to help them pay for their premiums. Almost two-thirds get comprehensive coverage for $10 or less per month, or many for no cost, depending on their income.

“The uninsured rate in the AA/Black community in California has fallen from 16 percent in 2013 to 6% in 2022, according to recent Kaiser Family Foundation data. There are currently 33,370 Covered California enrollees who identified as AA/Black as of September 2023, which is nearly a 40% increase from 2014,” he said in an email.

At last glance about 95% of African Americans were insured, either through Covered California, Medi-Cal or private insurance, which is good news.

Rhonda Smith said that her health program offers a network of Covered California counselors, and folks can check their website specifically for Black enrollers. There are also toll-free contacts on their website for enrollment counselors directly in the area where they live.

“We want to ensure everybody, not just Black folks, but especially Black folks. They’re on the front lines enrolling everyone now that open enrollment has started,” said Smith, the California Black Health Network Executive Director.

Anyone with questions about Medi-Cal redetermination can also check in with CBHN.

“They can reach out to our enrollment counselors and also how they can get connected to the Covered California qualified plan if they get kicked off Medi-cal,” she said.

With access to insurance coverage, she said that now is not a good time to slack off. The community needs to stay on top of their health.

“We still have work to do, but generally, there is a shortage of Black health care providers whether mental health, primary care or specialty care,” she said. “Everything is not good because we’re still having poorer outcomes than everybody else.”

For health help and services, see https://chanhd.com

To speak to a Covered California Black service representative, see CBHN,

To learn more about CBHN, see https://www.cablackhealthnetwork.org/

Or see, https://www.coveredca.com/

TagsCBHNCHANCovered CAenrollmentfree medicalLong Beach Leaderprecinct reportertricounty bulletin
Previous Article

S.B. Black Student Grades Worst of All

Next Article

Turkey Hunt Kicks off Holidays

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Precinct Reporter News

Related articles More from author

  • Latest PRGNews

    BLACK Collective: Resources for the People

    May 5, 2022
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Chaffey Students Win Cash for Solving Community Problems

    December 14, 2023
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Mental Health: Black Men It’s Okay To Cry

    April 22, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Conceiving and Creating Kwanzaa in Struggle

    December 16, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Riverside Candidates, Vote by Tuesday March 5

    February 22, 2024
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Schools on Track for Reopening

    July 29, 2021
    By Precinct Reporter News

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

You might be interested

  • Latest PRGNews

    Tustin Mayor Letitia Clark Discusses Goals

  • Latest PRGNews

    NNPA Issues Call to Support Gulf Area Impacted by Historic Floods

  • Latest PRGNews

    Health Fair Set for Sat., Sept. 15 in Rialto

Precinct Reporter News Group

Your local news resource for 50 years in the Inland Empire, Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding areas!

To subscribe or advertise, call 909.889.0597

About us

  • Broadcasting & Media Production Company
    357 W. 2nd Street
    San Bernardino, California, CA 92401
  • mailto:sales@precinctreporter.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Target: Black Leaders Reject Corporate Spin

    By Precinct Reporter News
    July 10, 2025
  • Undersheriff Horace Boatwright Succumbs at 62

    By Precinct Reporter News
    July 10, 2025
  • Help for Families: I.E. Legal Aid Providers Brace for Cuts

    By Precinct Reporter News
    July 10, 2025
  • Target: Black Leaders Reject Corporate Spin

    By Precinct Reporter News
    July 10, 2025
  • Join our Recipe Competition!

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • SB Budget Cuts CDBG

    SB CDBG Cuts Have Local Nonprofits Braced for the Worst

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015

Follow us

  • About
  • ADVERTISE
  • ARCHIVES
  • blog
  • Buy Adspace
  • Cart
  • Contact Us
  • Food Test
  • Hide Ads for Premium Members
  • Home MultipleColours2
  • Home MultipleColours3
  • Home Page
  • Home Sport
  • Home Sport2
  • Precinct Reporter News
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
© Powered by Hotspotwebsites.net. All rights reserved.