Introduction to this blog and the ACA

The health care law, also known as Obamacare or ACA (Affordable Care Act), makes health insurance more affordable for millions of people, and says most Americans need to get insurance or pay a fine. 

This blog will help you understand the basics of the law and how it affects you.  The law can be confusing, especially because most of the media coverage has been more about the political disagreements surrounding it than about the law itself. 

In fact, I had many misconceptions because of this.  As the Marketing and Development Assistant at Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania (PPWP), I’ve also had the opportunity to do community outreach, and I have realized that many other people do not understand how Obamacare affects them.  Misconceptions do not help you or me or the rest of Americans.

I have become more educated.  I’ve read a lot of information, and I have attended numerous information sessions.  I intend to use this blog to help educate others that way we can make the ACA as successful as possible for all Americans. 

This blog will explain aspects of the ACA using words, videos, and other multimedia.  I will also cover community outreach that I am doing and include firsthand accounts of people’s reactions to the law such as their misconceptions, their knowledge, their confusion, and their excitement (or lack thereof).

As a basic introduction to the ACA, I have included the following video by the Kaiser Foundation.  It was released before Enrollment began, but it is a simple explanation of how the law works and how you fit into it.