ObamaCare is a health insurance policy introduced by the US government that enrolled approximately 6.5 million people by the end of 2014. There were 4.5 million auto-renewals and renewals, in addition to enrollments summing to 2 million. However, despite continued campaigns urging people to enroll under Obamacare, 1 million New York residents still lack medical coverage. The number is significantly higher in neighborhoods populated by immigrants. When such high numbers of people lack health insurance, especially for a city as populated as New York, then real consequences are inevitable for its inhabitants.
The most affected in the city is Woodside and Sunnyside in Queens, where 22.5% of the population have no health insurance. Queen’s neighborhoods such as Corona, Bushwick, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights lag behind with more than 22% of their residents lack medical coverage. Contrary, the lowest uninsured population is found in Upper West and Upper East Sides with 4% lacking coverage and Staten Island’s Tottenville recording 4.5%.
Majority of legal immigrants lack medical coverage due to:
• Inadequate knowledge about the signing up procedure
• Unawareness of the policy
• Ineligibility of undocumented immigrants to plans under federal law
• Some youngsters opt not to pay for medical cover since they assume they do not need it
To register more people to the Telemedicine program, the coordination and awareness team really have to do a better job. For instance, young people rarely have an opportunity to evaluate the need for a health coverage plan. Furthermore, to succeed in this noble endeavor, reaching the immigrant population is of great importance. The Health Insurance plans to kick-start enrollment under Obamacare this month and will last till the end of January. However, most immigrants cannot sign up, while some cannot afford premiums for plans they qualify. The perceived hindrance to the adoption of Telemedicine program is hence, the contentious issue of affordability.