MEDIA ADVISORY FOR:
April 15, 2015
Contacts: Sarah Lovenheim, sarah.lovenheim@
Athena Smith Ford, athena@floridachain.org,
Charlotte Cassel, charlotte@
Advocates to Press Lawmakers to Address Coverage Gap Leaving Over 300,000 FL Millennials Without Access to Affordable Health Insurance
[Tallahassee]–On Wednesday, April 15, dozens of Florida Millennials will join health and community advocates from across the state for an advocacy day and press conference at the Florida Legislature. Stakeholders are gathering to demand Florida lawmakers advance a solution to address the state’s health coverage gap, which is leaving over 300,000 Florida Millennials without access to an affordable health insurance option. Florida Millennials in the state’s coverage gap will be available for interviews.
This Millennial advocacy day comes on the heels of the Florida Senate unanimously supporting a market-based plan that would cover low-income Floridians in the state’s coverage gap and Governor Scott’s recent skepticism about the reliability of federal funding, despite previously speaking in favor of Medicaid expansion.
WHAT: Press Conference & Advocacy Day
WHO: Florida Millennials in the health coverage gap, community and health stakeholders
WHERE: Capitol Building Third Floor Rotunda
WHEN: Wednesday, April 15th at 11am
A recent analysis from Young Invincibles and Florida CHAIN found that Millennials (18- to 34-year-olds) account for about one-third of the low-income residents in Florida’s coverage gap. The brief also suggests that a lack of access to coverage for these young people could threaten the state’s degree attainment goals and consequentially their employment and earnings potential.
Additionally, the Florida Coverage Gap was created by the failure of Florida lawmakers to accept more than $50 billion made available to our state by the Affordable Care Act so that Floridians making around the poverty line or less could get access to affordable health care coverage. Florida’s decision to leave these people uninsured is costing the state nearly a half billion dollars a year.
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