Implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) In CT

Much has been published about the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA), also known affectionately by the beneficiaries as “Obama Cares.”

  • What does the ACA means for us in CT? 

  • What are the distinct benefits to young people? 

  • What are the benefits to seniors?  

  • How will the ACA — once fully implemented– benefit us as a society?

  • Will implementing the ACA costs us more now and will there be long-term savings later?

OneWorld asked these and many other questions of two people who are immersed in the implementation of the ACA in CT; they are:
Atty Demian Fontanella, General Counsel
Office of the Healthcare Advocate (OHA), and

State Senator Toni Nathaniel Harp, 10th District,
Deputy President Pro Tempore
Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee

Those who oppose this national program have not mentioned the very positive elements of the ACA.  You can learn about those positive elements by watching the video clip linked below.

http://youtu.be/nsFdeEweeg0 video clip with Senator Harp & Attorney Fontanella explaining how aspects of the ACA will be implemented in CT and the outstanding benefits to be derived.

Here are some key pieces of information for health care consumers:

CONSUMER INFORMATION:

  • Victoria Veltri,
  • State Healthcare Advocate
  • Office of the Healthcare Advocate 
  • P.O. BOX 1543 
  • Hartford,  CT, 06144 /
  • Toll-Free: 1-866-HMO-4446
  • Web: www.ct.gov/oha/

 OHA provides free, real-time advocacy services for Connecticut healthcare consumers. 

For assistance, call 1-866-466-4446, or e-mail OHA at healthcare.advocate@ct.gov.

  • About the OHA:  Office of the Healthcare Advocate Recovered $2.4 Million for Healthcare Consumers in Second Quarter of 2012

  • This figure represents the costs of healthcare services

  • Savings on procedures and claims costs that would have been borne directly by consumers had OHA not intervened

  • OHA has 85% success rate in overturning insurers’ denials of health insurance coverage.

Top Challenges the OHA Encounters in CT:

  1. Denials of coverage for mental health and substance use treatment dominate OHA’s case volume.
  2. Consumers are experiencing complex, heartrending and difficult battles with their health plans. These situations require that the CT Office of Healthcare Advocate takes immediate action on a systemic level to address the broken mental health delivery system for privately insured Connecticut residents. 
  3. Requires adjustment in health care law and monitoring of mental health benefits.

Relevant ACA Acronyms and Web Links

  1. HIX – Health Insurance Exchange

  2. PPACA – Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
  3. Synonymous with – ACA –Affordable Care Act
  4. HITE – This refers to the Health Information Technology Exchange
  5. Health Insurance Exchange that you’re interested in learning about for the program. 
  6. RWJF has created a Health Benefits Implementation Timeline for State Policy-Makers:  http://www.rwjf.org/files/research/66489.pdf  Get the details here 
  7. http://www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/2011/11/hiv-aids11092011a.html  Articles    
  8. http://www.urban.org/uploadedPDF/411569_importance_of_insurance.pdf

More information about OneWorld: http://www.oneworldpi.org/home.html

OneWorld Progressive Institute Inc., is a small community organization made up  of volunteers. The board of directors is a small band of educators and community leaders committed to improving the type and quality of information available to people in the greater NH communities. N’Zinga Shani started production on these programs in June 1996.  The programs are also available to all towns in CT that request them and presently  air statewide on AT&T Uverse and on various public access channels. 

OneWorld TV community education programs,  forums (conducted mostly in churches) and critical-thinking workshops in schools focus mainly on health literacy, education and on civic engagement.  OneWorld engages a broad cross-section of community representatives including middle and high school students, community activists, education leaders, educators, student advocates, parents, civic leaders,  health experts and specialists from various disciplines along with legal experts.  

OneWorld television programs are produced in the studios of North Haven Community Television:  www.NHTV.com A public access facility that airs all OneWorld programs on Comcast Chan. 18 and on AT&T Uverse Channel 99, several times weekly.  Visit these links to see when our programs air in these towns: http://www.nhtv.com/NHTVProgramSchedules.html  North Haven http://www.branfordtv.org/bctvprogramschedules.html Branford  http://www.totokettv.org/Channel18Schedule.html  North Branford

OneWorld Presents: “21st Century Conversations”, The Education Agenda, and Civic Engagement informative programs can also be seen several times weekly on:

  • Comcast Channel 18 in East Haven on ETV  and in
  • Wallingford on WPAA TV Comcast 18.
  • On  CTV, Comcast Chan. 26, 7:00pm, Sun  (Hamden, NH and WH) and on
  • Comcast in Clinton on Chan 34. 
  • In Seymour, Comcast Channel 10, in all CT Valley towns at 8:00pm on Wednesdays.  Towns covered are:  Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Derby, Naugatuck, Oxford, Shelton & Seymour.
  • On Comcast Chan. 15 in Cromwell, Middletown, Portland, East Hampton and Middlefield at 10pm Fridays. 
  • On Charter Communications, Comm Visions Chan. 21 at 7:00pm Mondays and 4:00pm Fridays.  This channel covers all 14 mid-western CT towns.
  • OneWorld programs are on AT&T Uverse at different times daily broadcast through different towns. 
  • If you do not get OneWorld programs in your town, please ask your public access station to request the programs from OneWorld; there is no cost associated with airing our programs.
  • Visit http://www.oneworldpi.org/home.html to learn more about the programs we produce.
  • Television Stations Are NOT Permitted to Sell Copies of OneWorld Programs

  • Full length, professional quality, DVDs of all OneWorld programs are available from OneWorld; you can order through our web store or call 203 407-0250 to place orders.  All orders must be pre-paid before DVDs are delivered.

More web videos– representing the three areas of focus: civic engagement, education and health literacy — can be found at: http://www.oneworldpi.org/online-videos.html

OneWorld Progressive Institute is on various social media such as:  Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and on GNH Community Ning at:

OneWorld invites and welcomes constructive feedback from the community and viewers.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Announcements, Civic Engagement, Community Education & Information, Education, Health, Health Reform Under Affordable Care Act, Multicultural Resources, Public Good, Uncategorized, Web Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) In CT”

  1. Bennie Stracquatanio Says:
    December 9th, 2012 at 1:33 pm

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