This week, President Obama announced the Healthy Communities Challenge—an initiative designed to engage key community members and increase the number of those insured.
Today, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia accepted the challenge. Long Beach is one of 20 cities seeking to enroll the most people in health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
“We are proudly accepting President Obama’s challenge to ensure that residents get the care and help they need,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia in a statement. “The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and we look forward to partnering with our local hospitals, health organizations, and education institutions to ensure that people who need coverage get coverage.”
According to a press release issued by the White House today, a total of about 1.4 million people in California were covered through the state’s Health Insurance Exchange. The release estimated the average monthly premium for the lowest cost silver plan will decrease by 4.5 percent from 2015 to 2016, before tax credits, something the release said may lure additional health benefits for marketplace customers.
“In Long Beach and the surrounding region, there are 480,000 uninsured who are eligible for the Marketplace,” stated the release, specifically, the number of the uninsured for the Designated Market Area that includes Long Beach.
According to the release, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will publish new tallies at the conclusion of the end of this year’s open enrollment period, the third such period under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The community that makes the most progress will receive “bragging rights, a healthier community and a visit from Barack Obama,” the release stated.