State Assemblyman Phil Ting today launched a campaign aimed at helping people enroll in a health plan as required by the federal Affordable Care Act.
Ting, D-San Francisco, organized a health and wellness fair Thursday on the San Francisco State University campus to help the uninsured get started with the enrollment process, the assemblyman’s spokesman Anthony Matthews said.
With Ting were representatives from Covered California, San Francisco State University and Young Invincibles, a group dedicated to assisting young uninsured adults in getting health care coverage, Matthews said.
“Millions of our fellow citizens are now eligible for health insurance but they won’t be covered unless we seize the moment and help each other,” Ting said in a statement.
A central focus in the campaign of the Mandarin-speaking Ting is to help clarify things for those who don’t speak English as a first language, according to Matthews.
There will be translators helping in several languages, including Chinese and Spanish, to assist in the pre-enrollment process so no one will be overlooked, Matthews said.
“My passion is to ensure that limited English skills are never an obstacle,” added Ting.
Two additional events are scheduled for later this month. The first is at 6 p.m. on Oct. 23 at the West Bay Conference Center at 1290 Fillmore St., and the second is at 10 a.m. on Oct. 26 at the San Francisco County Fair Building at 1199 Ninth Ave.
Matthews said Ting is working with other legislators to schedule similar events in the future.
Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act began Oct. 1. Anyone uninsured has until March 31, 2014, to enroll in a health plan.
