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“My Brother’s Keeper”

03/17/2014 Nativegrl77

Greetings,

The White House hosted a conference call on the President’s new initiative, “My Brother’s Keeper” with Latino organizations that are leading the effort to help our boys and young men of color get ahead. Please join the discussion with key policy staff from across the Administration to learn more about “My Brother’s Keeper” and ways that you can get involved.

To RSVP for the conference call, click here.

President Obama Delivers Remarks at the Launch of "My Brother's Keeper" Initiative

President Barack Obama delivers remarks at an event to highlight “My Brother’s Keeper,” an initiative to expand opportunity for young men and boys of color, in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 27, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Univision Telemundo Town Hall

Last week, President Obama participated in a town hall on Latinos and the Affordable Care Act. The town hall “Tu Salud y La Nueva Ley: Conversación con el Presidente” (Your Health and the New Law: A Conversation with the President) was an opportunity for people to learn about both the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and ways Latinos can sign-up for quality, affordable health insurance.

During the town hall, President Obama assured the participants that 99% of the problems with HealthCare.gov have been resolved. In addition, he stated that 95% of the problems with CuidadoDeSalud.gov have been resolved. He also guaranteed that information provided for health care enrollment would not be shared with ICE for immigration enforcement purposes. He stated, “So, for everybody out there that’s in a mixed family, there’s no sharing of the data from the health care plan into immigration services. You should feel confident that if somebody in your family is eligible, you should sign them up.”

President Obama Participates in the Univision Telemundo Town Hall

President Barack Obama participates in the Univision Telemundo Town Hall with Enrique Acevedo and José Diaz-Balart at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., March 6, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

In other news, the President announced several Latinos for key administration posts. The new Latino nominees include:

José Cisneros – Nominated to serve as Vice Chair to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans
Anna Maria Chávez – Nominated to serve as a Member on the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability for Young Americans
Joe Echevarria – Nominated to serve as a Member on the President’s Export Council

As always, please share this information with your networks to help inform the Latino community on the latest news about the Health Insurance Marketplace and other updates.

Thank you.

Jorge Neri Associate Director White House | Office of Public Engagement

Administration Highlights

Opportunity For All: Middle Class Tax Cuts In The President’s FY 2015 Budget

The President’s FY2015 budget will show how to achieve real, lasting economic security and expand opportunity for all so that every American who is willing to work hard can get ahead. The President’s budget will show in real terms the choices we can make to expand economic opportunity and strengthen the middle class, like closing unfair tax loopholes so we can invest in the things we need to help the middle class and those striving to get into it, grow our economy, and provide economic opportunity for every American. It invests in infrastructure, job training, and preschool; the bill cuts taxes for working Americans while closing tax loopholes enjoyed by the wealthy and well-connected; and reduces the deficit.

Last week, the President released his FY2015 Budget laying out a specific vision for how we create opportunity for all Americans. The President’s Budget provides a roadmap for accelerating economic growth, expanding opportunity for all Americans, and ensuring fiscal responsibility. It invests in infrastructure, job training, preschool, and pro-work tax cuts, while reducing deficits through health, tax, and immigration reform. To read more about how the President’s budget supports Latino families, click here.

Agency Updates

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker on the Minority Business Development Agency’s 45th Anniversary “Forty-five years ago today our nation embarked on a vision to ensure that minority-owned firms throughout the country could become critical economic agents of change and job creation. This vision led to the founding of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), the only federal agency focused on strengthening the economic contribution of our nation’s 5.8 million minority-owned businesses. Today, more than ever, MBDA continues to play a vital role in growing the U.S. economy and providing jobs for Americans of all backgrounds and cultures by ensuring that minority-owned firms grow in size and scale.”

It’s Time to Enroll. Come Back to HealthCare.gov Today! As we head into the final weeks of open enrollment, HealthCare.gov and CuidadoDeSalud.gov are ready to serve you. We all deserve the security and the peace of mind that comes from having health coverage that we can count on when we need it most. And we continue to make the application process easier for you. Read some of the ways we have improved the consumer experience.

Es Hora de Inscribirse. ¡Regrese Hoy a CuidadoDeSalud.gov! A medida que nos acercamos a las últimas semanas del período de inscripción abierta, CuidadoDeSalud.gov y Healthcare.gov está listo para servirle. Todos merecemos la seguridad y tranquilidad de tener cobertura médica con la que podemos contar cuando más la necesitamos. Y seguimos haciendo el proceso de solicitud fácil para usted. Lea más sobre la manaeras en la que hemos mejorado la experiencia para nuestros consumidores.

Blog Highlights

Still Need Health Insurance? Join a Live Chat with Valerie Jarrett & Cosmo for Latinas On Wednesday, March 12 at 3 p.m. ET, Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett will join the editors of Cosmopolitan & Cosmo for Latinas for a live chat on Google+ to discuss everything you need to know about the Affordable Care Act and how you can get insured before the March 31 open enrollment deadline.

Ask President Obama Your Health Care Questions on WebMD Next week, President Obama will sit down for his first-ever interview with WebMD, the leading source of health information for consumers and health care professionals, to discuss the importance of signing up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. During a conversation with the site’s health care reform expert Lisa Zamosky, the President will answer questions about health care and the ACA directly from WebMD users in an interview that will air on March 14.

Presidential Innovation Fellows Round 3: Serve. Create. Innovate. We are very excited to announce that applications are now being accepted for the third round of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program. This initiative pairs talented, diverse individuals from outside government with top Federal innovators to implement game-changing projects that make the Federal Government work better for the American people.

Get Involved

My Brother’s Keeper: Latino Community Call President Obama’s recently launch an initiative called My Brother’s Keeper. For decades, opportunity has lagged behind for boys and young men of color. But across the country, communities are adopting approaches to help put these boys and young men on the path to success. And the President, in collaboration with foundations, businesses, and others, wants to build on that success to ensure that every American who is willing to work hard and lift themselves up has the opportunity to get ahead and reach their full potential.

Who: Jorge Neri, Associate Director, Office of Public Engagement What: Discussion with key policy staff from the White House and across the Administration to learn more about the My Brother’s Keeper Initiative. When: 5 PM EST on Tuesday, March 11 RSVP: Click here to RSVP

White House Internship The White House Internship Program’s mission is to make the “People’s House” accessible to future leaders from around the nation, and cultivate and prepare those devoted to public service for future leadership opportunities. If you know of any such future leaders, please encourage them to visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/internships for more information.

Who: The White House Internship Program What: Fall 2014 White House Internship When: DEADLINE is Sunday, April 13 Apply: www.whitehouse.gov/internships

Get Updates

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ACA Enrollment and the day after March 31st

03/17/2014 Nativegrl77

By CAP Action War Room

4 Key Points About The New ACA Enrollment Numbers

The Department of Health and Human Services released the latest Affordable Care Act enrollment numbers yesterday, showing that 942,000 people enrolled in private health plans through the insurance marketplace in February. That brings the total number enrolled in private plans to over 4.2 million people with a month left until the March 31 enrollment deadline. After the deadline, those without coverage will be fined $95 or 1% of their taxable income, whichever is greater.

But these top line numbers don’t tell the whole story. Here are four things you need to know about the latest enrollment report:

1. Per-day enrollment increased from January to February. The Washington Post headline after the enrollment numbers came out yesterday read “Obamacare enrollment drops off in February.” But while January enrollment was 170,000 above February’s, it’s not that simple. When you take into account the fact that February has fewer days than January, and that January actually included a few days in December in its reporting period, the per-day sign-up rate actually increased. As the March 31 deadline approaches, more and more people are learning about the benefits of the law and are signing up for coverage.

2. The rate of young adult enrollment is steady. Young adults comprised 27 percent of the marketplace sign-ups in February, holding steady from January and up from 24 percent from October to December. (This is not surprising given young people are expected to wait until closer to the deadline to enroll.) Some have worried that too few younger, healthy people in the exchange would result in “adverse selection” — an exchange disproportionately filled with older, sicker individuals. But studies have shown that even in a worst-case scenario, which has already been overcome, premiums would likely increase by just a couple percentage points.

3. People are taking advantage of financial help to lower their costs. Of those who have selected a plan, 83 percent have qualified for financial assistance to reduce the cost. In fact, most uninsured people don’t know how likely they are to qualify for financial help to help lower the cost of enrolling. There is even an insurance subsidy calculator to help figure it out.

4. Things are ramping up for a big March surge. The expectation all along has been that there will be a spike in enrollment as the deadline approaches. And we are already starting to see that take place. In a creative and hilarious appeal to get young people to enroll, President Obama appeared on an episode of Zach Galifianakis’s show Between Two Ferns, a popular spoof of public access TV by the comedy website Funny or Die. By the afternoon, administration officials reported the comedy site was the number one driver of traffic to healthcare.gov, and today they said traffic jumped 40 percent from the previous day. In addition to creative marketing, advocacy groups around the country have put together over 4,000 events related to enrollment before the end of March (helpfully arranged at ACAfinancialhelp.com if you or someone you know needs to enroll!).

BOTTOM LINE: Millions of Americans are signing up for affordable coverage using the individual marketplace, and the latest enrollment numbers demonstrate that momentum is building for a big March. Stay tuned, and make sure everyone you know gets covered!

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Self-Employed & ACA

03/17/2014 Nativegrl77

Regional Administrator Calvin W. Goings

Self-Employed? Sign Up for Health Care Coverage by March 31st

With only a couple weeks to go during the Affordable Care Act open enrollment period, now is the time for self-employed business owners to sign up for a plan.

With new Health Insurance Marketplaces (also referred to as Exchanges) open, self-employed business owners and other consumers can purchase private insurance coverage from a range of options and depending on income and residency, potentially qualify for additional subsidies like Medicaid or tax credits.

Coming up, there are some important dates self-employed business owners need to know if they want to sign up for coverage for this year.

Open enrollment for 2014 coverage ends March 31, 2014. An exception would include a qualifying life event that provides you with a special enrollment period such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption of a child, or loss of a job.

If you don’t have health coverage in 2014, you may have to pay a penalty.

The next Open Enrollment period is proposed to begin on November 15, 2014 for health insurance coverage that begins January 1, 2015.

To browse coverage options, assess potential subsidies, and purchase your plan online through the individual marketplace, simply go to www.healthcare.gov.

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Invisible Man

03/17/2014 Nativegrl77

CAP Action War Room

The ACA’s Impact On African American Men Goes Unnoticed

We frequently use this space to highlight, explain, push back against, celebrate, or summarize issues that are discussed a lot in the news. Today, we want to do the opposite: call attention to an issue that is missing from our national dialogue.

It’s easy to get caught up in the daily political debates over the Affordable Care Act, but the stakes are higher than that: this is a real (and historic) law that has real impacts for real people. African American men, in particular, are a group that will benefit an enormous amount from the law. And they are a group for whom the current health system is failing. The infographic from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation below sheds light these challenges and on the importance of reducing disparities in health care access and building a culture of health among all Americans.

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the SBA and ACA

03/17/2014 Nativegrl77

Affordable Care Act 101 Webinar

With new health insurance marketplaces open, the SBA and Small Business Majority are hosting a free Affordable Care Act 101webinar so small business owners can learn the basics of the Affordable Care Act and how they can enroll in health insurance marketplaces.

Join us on Thursday at 2pm ET:

February 27 | Click to Register

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