Holy Name Press Releases

Holy Name Medical Center's Korean Medical Program Hosts Major ACA Enrollment Event

March 19, 2014

With the March 31st Affordable Care Act (ACA) Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment deadline rapidly approaching, the Korean Medical Program at Holy Name Medical Center held an ACA enrollment event on Tuesday, March 18. The event, co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), a member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health and Enroll America's Get Covered America campaign, hosted more than 155 individuals (110 Korean American families) seeking assistance with enrolling in the Health Insurance Marketplace from one of the dozens of Certified Application Counselors on hand. Translators were also available to assist with enrollment.

"The Korean community is faced with tremendous challenges with the on-line ACA enrollment process, due to language and technological barriers," said Kyung Hee Choi, Vice President of the Korean Medical Program at Holy Name Medical Center. "Holy Name's Korean Medical Program has assisted 1,310 members of this community with ACA enrollment thus far, and we'd like to thank Congressman Bill Pascrell, and Justine Ceserano from Enroll America for their co-sponsorship of last-night's program."

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), there are more than 15 million Latinos, 7.8 million Blacks and 2 million Asians across the country that are uninsured but eligible for coverage. In New Jersey alone, about 900,000 uninsured residents are eligible for coverage. It's estimated there are as many as 13,000 uninsured Korean Americans in New Jersey, which underscores the importance of today's event.

"With less than two weeks left to open enrollment, I'm pleased to provide this critical opportunity for New Jersey's Korean America community to enroll in the ACA," said Rep. Pascrell. "Partnering with wonderful community organizations like Holy Name's Korean Medical Program and Enroll America is key to ensuring the 900,000 uninsured New Jerseyans know about their options under the ACA. I'll continue to fight to ensure that Americans have the resources available to access high quality, affordable coverage for their families."

The Korean Medical Program at Holy Name Medical Center was developed to address the linguistic and cultural needs of the Korean-American population in the greater New York and New Jersey area. The program offers Korean menu selections, television channels, newspapers and magazines for inpatients, a free community shuttle van service as well as Korean-speaking customer representatives who greet patients, translate and coordinate with physician offices. The program also actively provides community outreach initiatives such as health fairs, educational programs, physician lectures and support groups.

"We recognize the needs of New Jersey's Korean American community and we are committed to doing all we can to help them get the information they need to get covered," said Justine Ceserano, State Director of Get Covered America. "We are encouraged by the number of people that have enrolled today and we will redouble our efforts to reach even more of New Jersey's uninsured in the next 13 days."

Enroll America's Get Covered America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan campaign focused on raising public awareness and engaging consumers about their new, affordable health insurance options.

On Monday, the Obama administration announced that more than five million people have now enrolled in private health coverage through the Affordable Care Act, with about 800,000 signing up in March so far.

As a member of the exclusive Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, Rep. Pascrell helped author the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to help 32 million uninsured Americans afford health insurance.  To enroll in the new Health Insurance Marketplace or for more information, please visit www.healthcare.gov or call the ACA Call Center at 1-800-318-2596.

To learn more about Holy Name Medical Center, visit holyname.org.

Click to view pictures: http://photos.holyname.org/Korean-Medical-Program/Affordable-Care-Act-2014/i-qXwtJt2

High-resolutions images are available upon request.