Let’s get the word out: Obamacare is working. And getting covered is only the beginning.
Regular readers of Eclectablog know that I’ve made it a personal mission to share as many Obamacare success stories as I can get my hands on, to educate Americans on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I’ve been urging others to do the same, so we can drown out the noise of negative talking points with the facts: Obamacare is working.
I’m taking it to the next level with a new project called Healthcare Works. The idea was sparked by a tweet from LOLGOP, suggesting that someone should make short videos of the ACA success stories I’ve been sharing.
I thought that was a great idea, so I decided to run with it.
The result is a new project called Healthcare Works. The goal is to gather and share video stories about how Americans are finding and using health insurance thanks to the ACA. Stories about how people are getting covered is only the beginning. The larger goal is to show how people are using their benefits to get healthy or stay healthy.
Preventive care is central to the ACA. Having insurance makes it easier for people to create a relationship with a primary care physician and get regular check-ups. Preventive care improves wellness by identifying potential problems before they start, or by catching them early when they’re easier and less expensive to treat and manage.
In the long run, access to preventive care saves everyone money, and is proven to save lives. It’s the larger goal of healthcare reform — turning our current “sick care” system into a healthcare system where the primary goal is prevention. The ACA is a major step toward that goal.
With the help of some creative collaborators — Sara Cederberg and Jason Karsh — the Healthcare Works project is up and running at a new Tumblr blog. Please follow us there.
In the coming months, we plan to gather and share more stories like the first video we posted to get the ball rolling. It’s only three minutes long so please, give it a look.
Sara and I have proposed a workshop session at RootsCamp where we hope to gather some short video testimonials from attendees about how the ACA is helping them. These stories will be posted at Healthcare Works — plus, they’ll serve as an interactive teaching tool during our session about the vital importance of a human narrative in campaigns. At RootsCamp, sessions are chosen by the attendees, so if you’re going please vote for our “Storytelling in Action” session and then stop on by to share your story or pick up some tips.
I’ll also be speaking at RootsCamp about the importance of getting the message out that Obamacare is working. If you’re there, watch for me in the opening session’s Ignite talks.
I’ll continue posting ACA success stories here at Eclectablog, and will share our video stories here, too. All of us who support the vision of healthcare reform are working together to increase awareness.
Getting more Americans to enroll in health coverage is a major focus at the moment, but there’s a much bigger picture here. The ACA and healthcare reform are all about creating a healthier population — something that’s only possible when people know how to use their insurance benefits to be proactive about their wellness. I hope Healthcare Works will help motivate more Americans to do just that.
Do you have a story to share? Contact me at Eclectablog, drop us a line at Healthcare Works or look for me at RootsCamp.
[Logo design by Sara Cederberg.]
