Why should young people care about what is currently going on with the American Health Care Act (AHCA)?

This is going to affect them dramatically because young people also get sick. There’s young people that get in a car accident, there’s young people that get injured in sports, at their jobs, that eventually need to go to the emergency department. Also, especially young people in the Eastern Coachella Valley care about their parents and they care about their uncles and aunts and their grandparents and they know that a family unit is the most important unit in our society, especially in our culture. So that if your grandparent is 62 years old now and can’t afford [living costs] because they are spending half of their salary on health care, then that affects your parents and affects their ability to make ends meet.

What is something you would like to clarify about the current discussion around ACA?

One, Obamacare is not failing. You cannot call insuring 20 million more people a failure. You cannot call protecting youth to stay on their parents’ health care up to the age of 26 a failure. You cannot call people who now have guaranteed coverage for emergency care, maternity care, mental health care, pharmaceutical drugs a failure. You cannot call protecting people with pre-existing conditions from being denied health insurance or increasing their costs a failure. So these are successes of the Affordable Care Act.

It is like someone who says you’re gonna fall down and then they pull the rug from underneath you and say, ‘See, you fell down.’

The failure is the willful and purposeful threat and uncertainty that Republicans and the Trump administration have created in order to make private health insurance charge more in premiums and also to force them to leave the exchanges. They’ve done this for political gain, in order to just tell people that, ‘See, these are the problems that are happening.’

It is like someone who says you’re gonna fall down and then they pull the rug from underneath you and say, ‘See, you fell down.’

So we need to break down the true reasons why health care costs are going up. We know that it is the cost of medication. We know that is the cost of health care and this bill [Trumpcare] does nothing for that. Instead, it gives a nice, huge tax break to the pharmaceutical industry.

What is your message to those in the Eastern Coachella Valley that might not be seeking medical care right now because they are scared?

There is no need to live in fear. We have to be dedicated to our families, our society, our community and to our jobs. Folks need to live good lives, with discipline and always be supportive of one another because we are going through some tough times with a lot of risks and threats. I encourage folks to live within their faith so they can continue to have faith that things in our political system will change in the future.

About the Author:

Paulina Rojas is a native New Yorker, Paulina has spent the past two years reporting on the Eastern Coachella Valley. She joined Coachella Unincorporated in 2016.  While it is different from the concrete jungle of Manhattan, she feels right at home in Coachella. In 2014 Paulinagraduated with a journalism degree from The University of Houston and is a member of The National Association of Hispanic Journalists. View her author page here.

Ivan Valenzuela/COACHELLA UNINC

INDIO — The Coachella Valley is eclectic in its array of residents and lifestyles. An Eastern Coachella Valley resident can work his entire life in the fields, but chances are he will never enjoy the retirement havens of nearby Palm Springs. It is also unlikely that he and his family have health insurance.

Path to Health, a new public information campaign funded by The California Endowment (TCE) and Desert Healthcare District, is aiming to break down barriers and help residents enroll in the Covered California health insurance exchange.

“Sometimes there is a language barrier, and many times it’s the person behind the counter that’s trying to help you that produces those barriers,” says Efren Tenorio, who attended the Path to Health enrollment event January 23 at JFK Memorial Hospital.

Ynez Canela, Path to Health liaison for Desert Regional Medical Center and JFK Memorial Hospital, helped organize the event by reaching out to the community.

“There’s really no one place to go to target these folks,” says Canela, when asked about finding  locations to find uninsured residents. “Part of it is where to go, but a lot of it is also always making sure you’re asking the questions. ‘Are you already insured? Do you know someone who’s not insured? Let’s get them here today.’ If you miss that part, you’re going to miss out on a large audience.”

California is using a large part of their marketing resources to target two distinct groups; one of these is young adults.

Canela hopes to host a larger enrollment event in Palm Desert in the near future to reach the younger residents from across the region. Although Palm Desert seems far from the Eastern Coachella Valley, many young people come to this city to attend College of the Desert and the local campuses of University of California at Riverside and California State University San Bernardino.

“There’s a big push to target the younger people,” says Canela.

Younger people carry a lot of the weight in the health care system. Statistically they are less likely to need services, balancing out the more sick-prone elderly residents.

The Other Group: Latinos 

Latinos are the other group that California is having a difficult time reaching. California Simulation of Insurance Markets predicts Latinos are will make up two thirds (66 percent) of the remaining uninsured in California by 2019. Of those who are eligible but remain uninsured, they will make up 64 percent.

Latinos make up about 38 percent of California’s total population. In Indio, Latinos account for 67 percent; In Coachella and Thermal, they are 96 and 97 percent, respectively.

Much of the struggle is due to English often being their second language. It’s the same struggle that steered many away from programs like Medicaid. UC Berkley Labor Center reports that “nearly three out of five adults who are predicted to remain uninsured are limited English proficient.”

Undocumented = Uninsured

Undocumented residents are not eligible for health coverage. Their only options are non-profit clinics, mobile clinics such as Flying Doctors, or forgoing medical attention altogether.

Although some can receive help from Medi-Cal in emergencies, the majority of this group is being left out of the Affordable Care Act.

TCE, a private statewide foundation, is leading a campaign to ensure that all Californians have access to affordable health services. TCE is also the funder of Building Healthy Communities which is focused on improving the health in 14 communities across the state, including the Eastern Coachella Valley.

On the TCE website, Daniel Zingale, senior vice president, says, “Improving health care for the remaining uninsured, including undocumented immigrants, is a win-win for all Californians… when it comes to public health, the public health facts are clear: a state is healthier when we’re all in it together. Threats to public health don’t know or distinguish according to immigration status.

“I’m Glad I Came in Today”

Path to Health is funding 25 certified enrollment counselors, or “navigators,” at six agencies throughout the Coachella Valley: Borrego Community Health Foundation, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, Hope to Health, Planned Parenthood, Catholic Charities and FIND Food Bank.

Residents can access the assistance of one of these counselors by calling (800) 343-4535 or (866) 893-8446.

Canela is working with these partner agencies to break through language barriers, poverty, and misconceptions to make people see the benefits of having reliable health insurance.

“I’m glad I came in today,” says Tenorio, as he was walking out of the enrollment fair at JFK Memorial Hospital. “It made me feel at ease.”

When asked about the misconceptions of health insurance, he says, “When you see what it’s going to produce and what the results will be, it doesn’t compare with what is said about it.”

MARIA GARCIA, AURORA SALDIVAR & BRENDA R. RINCON/Coachella Uninc

THERMAL – Hundreds of Eastern Coachella Valley families may have something to be thankful for very soon: health insurance.

The WE Connect Health Care Enrollment and Resource Fair, held last Saturday at Coachella Valley High School, brought dozens of resources together to inform approximately 1,200 attendees about their health care options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Among them was Francisca Rubalcava, 57, who has never had health insurance. She has seen a doctor three times — once when each of her two daughters was born and once in Mexico.

“I want to find out if it’s true that one can get insurance, based on the money you have,” Rubalcava said in Spanish. Her only source of income is her husband’s Social Security checks.

Rubalcava says she is in excellent health and is more worried about her two daughters.

“I have a daughter in college, and if she gets sick, she can have somewhere to turn,” she said.

Her daughter Maria Flores, 24, helped Rubalcava fill out the applications. She also applied for herself, her husband, and her six-month old son, Alexander.

WE Connect, which has visited communities across the state, is particularly important in this region where 25 percent of residents live below the poverty line and make less than $7,000 annually.

“Having WE Connect in Coachella was significant on various levels, especially when it comes to reaching those who might not otherwise have access to reliable information on how the implementation of ACA will affect them,” said Silvia Paz, manager of Building Healthy Communities Eastern Coachella Valley. “There are over 30,000 residents in the Coachella Valley who qualify but are not enrolled for low cost or no cost insurance, like Medi-Cal, and the majority reside in the Eastern Coachella Valley.”

Adilene Gomez, 24 knows the devastating consequences of not having health care. When she suffered a miscarriage, she was denied Medi-Cal and was left with a $20,000 hospital bill.

“It’s difficult for people who don’t have a lot of work to pay for a huge medical bill, having kids and payments to do for the house and other utilities,” she said.

Gomez and her family attended WE Connect to apply for Obamacare. “There are a lot of people (at WE Connect) who can help you with paperwork and to tell you what you do or don’t qualify for, like for anyone who doesn’t own a computer or has the time for it. I think there should be a few more of events like this so people can come because some people don’t know.”

BHC Eastern Coachella Valley is dedicating efforts to ensure that those currently left out of the ACA, including the undocumented population, will soon be eligible for coverage.

“Building Healthy Communities Prevention Team received over 100 pledges to support access to medical services for the remaining uninsured,” said Paz. “aAmong those who supported the pledge were Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez, Supervisor John Benoit, and (Coachella) Mayor Eduardo Garcia.”

The free event also offered medical screenings, financial planning resources, and enrollment assistance with CalFresh, the food assistance program for low-income Californians. The first 300 attendees received free frozen turkeys.

“WE Connect signaled the first of many efforts of Building Healthy Communities to ensure access for all to medical services, including providing resources to the remaining uninsured,” Paz said.

WE Connect is part of Building Health Communities Eastern Coachella Valley’s health care enrollment efforts. The event was co-sponsored by Covered California and The California Endowment’s “Asegúrate” or “Get Covered” initiative.