FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 17, 2013
Contact:
Adriana Zyskowski
adriana.zyskowski@
213.500.4059
Young Invincibles’ Statement on California Health Benefit Exchange designated as National Voting Rights Act Agency
[LOS ANGELES, CA] – California Secretary of State Debra Bowen has designated Covered California, the state’s new Health Benefit Exchange, as a voter registration agency under the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Californians will benefit greatly from this streamlined process of increasing access to health care as well as voter registration, improving both Californians’ health and the democratic process. Covered California is leading the rest of the country in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and is now the first state exchange to incorporate voter registration services.
“With 7.4 million uninsured people in California, there is now potential to register large numbers of new voters,” said Tamika Butler, California Director of Young Invincibles. “We are hopeful that other states will follow this lead and designate their Health Benefit Exchanges as voter registration agencies. By doing so, we could see as many as 68 million people register to vote across the country. Young Californians stand to benefit greatly from this designation, as there are an estimated 1.2 million uninsured 18 to 24 year-olds and an estimated 1.7 million 18 to 24 year-olds that are not registered to vote.”
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Young Invincibles is a national non-partisan, non-profit organization committed to amplifying the voices of young Americans, aged 18 to 34, and expanding economic opportunity for our generation. Young Invincibles ensures that young Americans are represented in today’s most pressing societal debates through cutting-edge policy research and analysis and innovative campaigns designed to educate, inform and mobilize our generation to change the status quo.