On March 25th, we used the one-year anniversary of the Affordable Care Act to educate students about the new consumer benefits and cost savings they can expect under the new law. On campuses across the country we teamed up with campus administrators, elected officials, student governments, and public health officials to reach as many students as possible.
Among the highlights from Friday’s events:
Chicago: The Surgeon General Visits Truman College
Illinois PIRG student leaders at Truman College in Chicago partnered with Student Government to organize a 100-person media conference for Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin’s visit to campus on Friday.
Illinois PIRG student Nicki Tidd introduced the Surgeon General and U.S. Rep Jan Schakowsky. The press conference was packed with VIPs from on campus and off, excited to come together to educate students about the Afforable Care Act.
Attendees included: College President Lynn Walker, The Chairman of the Chicago City Colleges Board of Trustees Martin Cabrera Jr., Truman College SGA Vice President Ben Heimer, Illinois Deputy Governor Cristal Thomas, City Colleges of Chicago President Lynn Walker, Director of Public Relations for Truman College Clifton Daniel, and Executive Director of the CCC nursing program Debra Ann Gurney.
The Student Government helped to distribute the Student PIRGs Young Person’s Guide to Health Insurance to all attendees right after the event
Illinois PIRG’s New Voters Project worked with the Chicago City College in the fall to register over 700 students to vote, increasing voter turnout in the school’s ward by 4% over 2006.
New Jersey: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services visit Campuses
At Rutgers University in Newark, NJ, Caya Lewis, Director of Outreach and Public Health Policy at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spoke our youth health care roundtable, joining students who stand to directly benefit from the law.
In addition Dr. Garth Graham, HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health; Acacia Bamberg Saltti Deputy Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, spoke at Student PIRG press conferences at the University of Connecticut and the University of Pittsburgh.
Read the Student PIRGs Policy Brief: An Alternative to Unwarranted Health Care Price Hikes For Young People.