Charleston, SC- Activists in the state of SC aren't waiting on the website fix to get peopel signed up for Obamacare, but it's time for activists across the nation to stop wringing their hands on Facebook about the performance of healthcare.gov and come to the support of our trained healthcare navigators to sign people up, with pen and paper forms, if necessary. We're doing that here now. It isn't easy, quick or internet sexy, but it gets families desperately needed coverage. Time here to do this is short since the legislature is likely to attempt to criminalize working as a navigator when they go back into session on January 14 when they'll convene with the Tea Party raging on the North Side of the Statehouse and progressives holding a rally on the South Side.
Ultimately conservatives in SC dream of driving the disabled, minorities, and working poor out of the state. They sincerely believe this will resolve the state's problems, allow them to cut taxes even further and create the right wing paradise they believe they're entitled to. Destroying federal safety net programs is their core strategy for achieving that.
That is a crazy plan of course. If the these people could leave SC, they would already be gone.
However time can't be wasted and the fight for healthcare must be waged here now, by signing up one family at a time, on paper if necessary. A larger fight, for the medicaid expansion the Governor prevented must also be waged. That is more fun since you get to have big rallies with signs and yell at the Republicans. However, on Nov. 8 we're going to do the hard work, on the ground, to get people signed up. That is what serious progressives do, make things work for people who need it.
Doing it Old School in the Charleston Market Nov. 8- Healthcare Navigator Loreen Myerson will be in the Market Street area on Friday, Nov. 8 from 9-2 pm talking to independent business owners, hospitality workers and anyone else interested about obtaining healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act through the Federal Exchange.
Assistance will be available to help you access coverage information and learn about subsidies and your actual final cost. Loreen Myerson is a trained healthcare market navigator working for the non profit SC Progressive Network in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester Counties. You can make an appointment by calling (843) 475-2859.
Loreen can help you get coverage without having to use the website. This event brings the effort to make health coverage available to Charleston’s bustling Market Street area where Charlestonians have been using a government maintained marketplace to access competing, free market options for over 200 years. For more information on the SC Progressive Network and the navigators it has working across the state see http://www.scpronet.com online.
10:33 AM PT: Just heard from one of our navigators who was able to assist an elderly couple that was struggling with preexisting conditions which were driving them into bankruptcy, they have have better, vastly cheaper coverage.