Check out the JACL Active Choice Campaign

Hopefully everyone has been enjoying the wonderful weather and March Madness season and is finding themselves well. On behalf of the Japanese American Citizen's League and JACL Health Benefits, we would like to ask for your help in spreading the word about a JACL campaign that directly affects folks aged 18 to 29. While congress may have just passed the healthcare bill, it's not entirely clear how everything is going to shape up. The Active Choice Campaign seeks to engage youth and young adults in the dialogue about health care and insurance, and introduce people to a new health insurance option for JACL members.

Nakayoshi NCWNP Professionals is affiliated with the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), which is a membership-based organization. One of the benefits of membership that may be of particular interest to Nakayoshi members is access to quality, affordable health insurance. The JACL Health Benefits Trust offers many insurance options, and recently one option has been created to fit the needs of students and young professionals ages 18-29, and includes: prescription coverage, medical coverage, accidental death coverage, national coverage, worldwide coverage, and personalized service.

For JACL members, the Blue Shield Active Choice PPO is one of the most inexpensive individual health insurance options on the market, starting at $110 a month for Northern California residents.

To follow the campaign online, check out twitter.com/jaclhealth or search for "JACL Active Choice Campaign" and become a fan on facebook.

For more information about the Blue Shield Active Choice PPO, go to jaclhealth.org or call 1-800-400-6633.

Here are some of the realities associated with health insurance and young adults (provided by The Commonwealth Fund):

• Between 2001 and 2003, one-third of college graduates had a time uninsured in the year following college graduation.
• Two-thirds of uninsured young adults had cost-related access problems (including failure to see a doctor for a medical problem, fill a prescription, see a specialist when needed, or attend a medical test, treatment or follow up) in the past year, compared with one-third of those who were insured all year.
• Half of young adults with any time uninsured had medical bill or debt problems, twice that of young adults who were insured all year. Of those who are uninsured, twenty-four percent had to change their way of life to pay medical bills.

Coupling medical debt problems with school-related debts can be devastating to personal finances. Unlike older adults who may have retirement or other investment monies to draw on, young adults who face medical debts do not have anything to draw on, forcing many to start their careers in debt - twice.

JACL Health Benefits and Blue Shield of California are offering the Active Choice Plan as a community service to the members of the JACL, so there are no brokers or fees collected by JACL Health Benefits. With this plan, the options of culturally-sensitive customer service in English, Japanese, and Chinese are available.

Please take a moment to become a fan of the campaign on facebook (search "JACL Active Choice Campaign") or follow us on twitter (@jaclhealth) to stay informed and voice your opinions on the current healthcare situation.