life
CITY
HEIGHTS
AZALEA PARK•FAIRMOUNT VILLAGE•HOLLYWOOD PARK•SWAN CANYON•CHEROKEE POINT•RIDGEVIEW•CHOLLAS CREEK
SPEAKING OUT
September 2013 • FREE •
LA VIDA
Recent Hoover High School graduates, as part of the Youth Council, travel to the state capitol to voice their concerns to California lawmakers.
Volume 3 • Issue 4
CORRIDOR•FAIRMOUNT PARK•COLINA PARK•CASTLE•FOX CANYON•ISLENAIR•BAYRIDGE•TERALTA EAST•TERALTA WEST
An estimated 28 percent of City Heights residents are without health care coverage. For many, a visit to the doctor comes through school-based clinics, such as this one at Rosa Parks Elementary. Se calcula que el 28% de los residentes de City Heights no tienen seguro de salud. Muchos encuentran la atención médica que necesitan a través de clínicas escolares, como la de la Primaria Rosa Parks. City Heights Life file photo
Vietnamese translation
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BACK TO SCHOOL School attendance may be a bigger problem than you realize. Find out how you can help to do something about it.
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GETTING INTO COLLEGE Local program helps high school students battle the pressures of teenage life and assists with college admission and scholarship applications
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HEALTH & SAFETY Students speak out about the dangers of mixing alcohol and drugs.
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BE AWARE Know how to recognize and protect yourself against lottery scams, a growing problem.
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Bringing the Affordable Care Act
to City Heights By David Ogul City Heights Life
They are on the front lines of bringing ObamaCare to City Heights. Zara Marselian, Roberta L. Feinberg and Steve Eldred are among those leading education, enrollment and outreach campaigns to make sure thousands of uninsured City Heights residents get covered under provisions of ObamaCare, more formally known as the Affordable Care Act. They will be joined by SAY San Diego, the 2-1-1 San Diego information network and the Council of Community Clinics, who have been given grants by Covered California – the state’s new health insurance exchange – to help educate residents in the region. Education and outreach are key because few
people have a firm grasp on the intricacies of the law, said Julian Quinonez, a consultant hired by Price Charities to survey local organizations’ efforts to enroll residents. In fact, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that more than twothirds of uninsured Americans don’t have enough information to understand Affordable Care Act reforms. Nearly 7 out of 10 of people earning less than $40,000 a year are unclear about how the law will affect them. The Affordable Care Act in California means a huge expansion in Medi-Cal coverage to more than 1 million low-income state residents who previously had no access to health care. In City Heights, an estimated 9,000 residents could get covered under this provision. Those who don’t qualify for Medi-Cal will
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Implementando la Ley de Atención Médica Asequible en City Heights Por David Ogul City Heights Life
En marcha los esfuerzos para implementar ObamaCare en City Heights. Zara Marselian, Roberta L. Feinberg y Steve Eldred están entre los que encabezan campañas educativas, de inscripción y de divulgación en la comunidad para lograr que miles de residentes de City Heights que no tienen seguro de salud puedan estar amparados por las disposiciones del programa ObamaCare, formalmente conocido como Ley de Atención
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T H E A F F O R DA B L E C A R E AC T
How ObamaCare affects you Cómo ObamaCare puede afectarlo By David Ogul City Heights Life
It’s not hard to find people with strong opinions about the Affordable Care Act. Yet most folks probably couldn’t provide more than a few details about President Barack Obama’s signature domestic policy initiative. In short, the law means that starting in January of 2014, everyone over the age of 18 must have health insurance; if not, they will have to
pay a penalty of up to $95 annually – an amount that will grow up to $695 by 2016. Those without insurance would have two new options to access to health care: Covered California, which is a new insurance marketplace; and an expansion of Medi-Cal. Under Covered California, tax credits will enable individuals, families and small business the opportu-
[ HEALTH, P6]
Por David Ogul City Heights Life
No es difícil encontrar personas con opiniones enérgicas acerca de la Ley de Atención Médica Asequible. Pero muchas probablemente no pueden proporcionar más que unos cuantos detalles de la iniciativa de política interna del Presidente Barack Obama. En resumen, la ley establece que a partir de enero del 2014, toda persona mayor de 18 años debe tener seguro de salud y si no lo tiene, tendrá que pagar una multa anual de
hasta $95 – cantidad que aumentará hasta $695 en el 2016. Las personas sin seguro tienen dos nuevas opciones para tener acceso a atención médica: Covered California, que es un nuevo mercado de seguros y el programa expandido de Medi-Cal. Bajo Covered California, créditos fiscales permitirán que individuos, familias y pequeñas empresas tengan la oportunidad de adquirir planes de seguro a bajo costo. Los planes y su costo difieren, pero se puede
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