Experts to diagnose health care reform effects on you

Posted May 27, 2013

Ryan Revock
TucsonSentinel.com

Want to know more about how health care reform will affect you? Experts will have answers Wednesday at a forum at El Rio Neighborhood Center.

The event, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva, will focus "on opportunities for women and young people" under the Affordable Care Act, said the congressman's spokesman, Adam Sarvana, in a press release.

Local health care experts will join the congressman and Department of Health and Human Services officials to explain the impact of new health care measures at the 3 p.m. meeting at El Rio, 101 W. Irvington St.

“I think there is still a lot of confusion about when different parts of the law kick in and how they apply to different parts of the population,” Sarvana said in an interview. “And this is really to just answer a lot of basic questions people have in one fell swoop.”

In the release, Sarvana pointed to new benefits under health reform, including free preventative services for women, the equalizing of new-plan premiums between men and women, the ability of parents to keep their children on a family insurance plan until age 26, and the elimination of pregnancy as a "pre-existing condition."

The experts will share knowledge from administrative and education perspectives, said Adriana Perez, a congressional fellow working for Grijalva.

“The event is an opportunity for members of the community, organizations, individuals, families, to come and hear of the benefits, what they may qualify for, what is available in the community in terms of resources and to hear from these local experts as to the services they particularly provide,” Perez said

Those who wish to attend the forum should email Perez.

Future forums to be held by the Arizona Democrat will cover how the Affordable Care Act will affect seniors and rural health care, as well as workers and border health, Perez said.