By Covered California, a program designed to teach Californians more about healthcare legislation, and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) held a forum at Cal State Long Beach on Friday discussing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
Signed into law by President Barack Obama on Mar. 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act is designed to implement reforms in America’s current healthcare system.
Among the act’s more popular features is its prohibiting providers from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
One of the major points of contention, however, in the act is a mandate that most Americans purchase health insurance by 2014, according to the department.
According to the department, more than 5.3 million Californians are currently uninsured.
The goal of the act, according to the department, is to make healthcare more affordable for many Americans.
Most Americans who do not purchase health insurance during the allotted timeframe will be forced to pay a tax penalty.
Since the Affordable Care Act has not been discussed greatly on campus, we are glad that Covered California held a forum on the subject.
Community members and college students need to be informed on the Affordable Care Act. The new law could affect them.
But while we support holding a forum on campus, we also think the university should better publicize the fact that the Affordable Care Act will impact Cal State Long Beach students.
The burden to inform, or at least attempt to inform, college students about the healthcare law falls on the public university.
As a public university, CSULB is an entity of the state. It should hold itself responsible for informing students about a law that will affect many. If anything, it should provide students an opportunity to learn more about the subject.
This forum was a step toward that, but it focused more on the Long Beach community than CSULB students.
According to Spokesman Dana Howard of Covered California, some outreach opportunities will be available to students later this month.
Some students will attend the outreach events. Others are likely to remain uninformed about the Affordable Care Act.
We think CSULB could help to better inform students by reaching out in the same ways it did to campaign for Proposition 30 last fall.
Campus leaders spoke at public events about Prop. 30. The California Faculty Association and Associated Students Inc. held Prop. 30 rallies last year.
As a result, more students voted and helped to pass Prop. 30.
CSULB could use similar methods to communicate with students about the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect them.
Whatever methods used, we would like to see more information on the Affordable Care Act spread throughout campus. The more students know, the better.
A failure to prepare for the law will cost students, literally.
