INCOMING
“WHEN PEOPLE ARE ARMED WITH THE INFORMATION THEY NEED, THEY’RE EXCITED TO TAKE ACTION.”
Despite some concerns, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto gets high marks for freshman year (Jan. 28) “I was never a fan of Mayor Luke, but to slam him on national TV was tasteless. And no taxpayer money was to be used? Undercover Boss did not promote Pittsburgh, only Ed Chadwick. It [was a] poor disguise [and] it was obvious to anyone who has ever seen Peduto.” — Web comment from “Despite Some Concerns” “The protected bike lane on Penn Ave. from the Strip to Downtown is great. Its existence is encouraging more people to dust off their bicycles and get around by bicycle, reducing noise and pollution and getting a little exercise. Pittsburgh’s Bike Share program will start in Spring 2015, and that will boost biking, also. We should build a protected bike lane the full length of Fifth Ave.!” — Web comment from “Paul Heckbert”
“It looks like Pennsylvania voters dodged a bullet by not electing Rob McCord for governor. Scary that he could have been the man in charge.” — Jan. 31 tweet from “Trish” (@choose_2bhappy) on the resignation and federal investigation of the now former Pa. Treasurer
“So fake. Sharks totally teeth-synching.” — Feb. 1 tweet from Bill Peduto (@billpeduto) regarding Katy Perry’s Super Bowl halftime show
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{PHOTO BY JOHN COLOMBO}
NAVIGATION
Enroll America’s Sean Murphy talks with CCAC student Victoria Hathorne at an outreach event.
ASSISTANCE
A
S AN ORGANIZER for Enroll America,
Sean Murphy’s job is to spread the .word about the Affordable Care Act. But for someone whose job is related to health care, he hasn’t been eating very healthy. “I’ve had so much pizza since I started this job,” says Murphy, a regional organizer for the nonprofit. But the pizza is more than a dietary choice. On this afternoon in the lounge at the Community College of Allegheny County’s South Campus, it’s bait to lure students to his table to talk about their health-care coverage or the lack thereof. And it works. Fifteen boxes of pizza all but disappear in less than 20 minutes, but it also attracts students with questions and concerns. At the event, Murphy and three navigators from local nonprofits addressed questions that ranged from “Am I already covered?” to “How much does it cost?”
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 02.04/02.11.2015
Navigator is the official title of workers who get certified to walk people through the various insurance plans available on the ACA marketplace on the federal government’s enrollment site.
Grassroots campaign helps consumers find health-care plans before looming ACA deadline {BY ASHLEY MURRAY} “If you don’t get a plan, you get penalized. That’s the reason I’m doing it,” says Tiffany Bernatowicz of Turtle Creek. She stopped by specifically for the event. A navigator helped Bernatowicz research insurance plans, but she couldn’t find even one in her price range —$100 or less. Bernatowicz also learned that she didn’t qualify for tax credits to offset the cost.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have the greatest income right now, but I’ve got to figure something out in the next two weeks,” she says, referring to the Feb. 15 deadline for what the government calls open enrollment. Murphy promises to follow up with her. That earnest demeanor is necessary for those trying to communicate and guide millions of people through bureaucracy, paperwork and new tax provisions associated with the ACA. Enroll America — with its grassroots Get Covered campaign — acts as a referral agency, bringing a team of federally-funded health-care navigators from local nonprofits to its outreach events. With laptops and secure Wi-Fi hook-ups, they travel into communities to find the uninsured. “If people sit down with an in-person assister, they’re about twice as likely to get covered compared to someone who just goes to healthcare.gov, so there’s a tremendous value,” says Julia Cusick, spokes-