2.5M young adults gain health insurance: Joe Shure “it’s a lifeline for young entrepreneurs”

Yesterday, the Department of Health and Human Services released new data from the National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) illustrating that the Affordable Care Act helped 2.5 million additional young adults get health insurance. The young-adult provision, effective Jan. 1 for employers with calendar-year plans, was one of the first Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act mandates to go into effect, requiring employers to extend coverage to employees’ adult children up to age 26.  This is making a difference in a population that is largely uninsured.  I frequently find myself in conversations with folks who aren’t familiar with this benefit of the ACA.  This media update can continue to impact the public’s understanding of the ACA.

Recently, I met Joe Shure, through The Roosevelt Institute Pipeline, where he is a Pipeline Fellow. He’s Associate Director and COO, at The Intersect Fund, a New Brunswick, New Jersey-based non-profit organization offering a host of services to low-income entrepreneurs in the area. He’s also a journalist and writes a business column for BusinessNewsDaily providing tips for small businesses.  Over a cappuccino (he had Earl Grey Tea) and the best croissant in NYC (Ceci-Cela Patisserie) I learned a great deal about how his organization supports low-income entrepreneurs, many of them new immigrants. That led to a conversation about their health needs and access to health care. Joe mentioned a column he published in June in BusinessNewsDaily, Parent’s Health Insurance a Lifeline for Young Entrepreneurs. He writes, “Removing the cost of insurance from these would-be business owners’ financial obligations freed capital to invest in businesses and reduce the risk of entrepreneurship.” Read the full article here.

This provision of the ACA is supporting new economic growth – perhaps small but in a significant way for a segment of our young adults in the midst of tough economic times and a tight job market.

Barbara Glickstein is co-director of the Center for Health, Media & Policy and parent to two young adults who are benefiting from this ACA provision.

[caption id="attachment_10250" align="alignleft" width="300"] CDC/NCHS, National Health

Social networking & crisis support: Facebook’s new anti-suicide tool

On Tuesday, December 13, Facebook, in collaboration with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline,  launched a new anti-suicidal tool  that allows users in Canada and the United States to report potentially suicidal postings they see on the site.   Once the user highlights the content, the person who posted it will receive an email with a toll-free number to speak directly to a counselor or to click on a direct link to a private, online chat session with a counselor from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin commended Facebook and Lifeline for addressing suicide — which she described as one of America’s most tragic public health problems. In a statement she said that nearly 100 Americans die by suicide every day.

“We have effective treatments to help suicidal individuals regain hope and a desire to live and we know how powerful personal connections and support can be,” she said. “Therefore we as a nation must do everything we can to reach out and provide them with the help and hope needed to survive and return to productive lives with their family, friends and communities.”

This new Facebook tool appears to be the first active effort by a social media site to identify people in the midst of a mental-health crisis and get them directly to a health professional.

Science writer, Nancy Shute, blogged for NPR’s health blog, Shots, on this new anti-suicide tool and raised the issue of privacy and HIPPA regulations. She also wonders what’s next for Facebook users – “Before too long, hearty eaters could perhaps start getting referrals to Weight Watchers, or the American Diabetes Association.”

Barbara Glickstein, RN, MPH, MS co-director CHMP

 

On Tuesday, December 13, Facebook, in collaboration