Lisa and Bob Mendelhall, owners of “Blind Bob’s”, a successful four-year-old Oregon District tavern with a musically vibrant reputation and growing cliental, are absolute proof that the health reforms enacted in 2010 are working for the residents of Montgomery County. Because of the tax credits now available to small businesses, which were included in the Affordable Care Act, they have been able to offer health insurance to their 23, mostly young, employees most of whom have never had coverage before and who are working in an industry where only 5% of workers have health benefits.
Ms. Anjel Francisco is a talented and lovely young woman representing Southwestern Ohio as Miss Greater Butler County in the Miss Ohio pageant. If she is the winner later this month she will then compete for the title of Miss America. The recent Eastern Michigan University graduate makes it clear that she is striving to win so that she can utilize the scholarship money to pursue her Masters in Psychology. She is determined to reach her goal and is specializing in relational and family counseling. And she knows that the Affordable Care Act is working for her and thousands of others --right now.
If Anjel is successful she will travel the nation and is thereby prohibited from being employed during her reign, but she must have health insurance. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act she can stay on her parents policy until she is 26 years of age and therefore be protected as she travels and continues her education. She has a compelling personal story to tell and has decided to focus on women’s healthcare as her pageant platform with a theme of encouraging all young women to “Be Your Own Advocate” and to control their own lives and decisions to be successful.
When: Tomorrow: Thursday June 7th, 2012 at 10:30--11:00 a.m.
What: Healthy Stories Express Listening Tour
Where: Blind Bob’s—Musical venue, tavern and restaurant in the Oregon District
430 East 5th Street on the edge of downtown Dayton, Ohio (45402) 937-938-6405
This event is part of the Healthy Story Express Listening Tour. The Healthy Story Express is a collaborative effort to hold various events across the state to listen and collect stories on how the federal health care law has assisted Ohioans. Collaborative partners include: ProgressOhio, UHCAN Ohio (Universal Health Care Action Network of Ohio), Know Your Care, and Health Care for America Now just to name a few.