WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Everyone is invited to attend one of two community education forums concerning “Understanding the Health Insurance Marketplace in Missouri” on Oct. 29 at Missouri State University-West Plains.
Sponsored by the university’s Department of Allied Health and the Student Nurses Association, the forums will take place at 3 and 6 p.m. in Melton Hall Room 112, organizers said. Both are free and open to all, organizers added.
Jen Bersdale, executive director of Missouri Health Care for All, will be the guest speaker. She will provide an overview of the health insurance marketplace, which opened Oct. 1, and where area residents can go for enrollment help, organizers said.
Missouri Health Care for All is a statewide, non-partisan, grassroots movement for quality, affordable health care for all Missourians, forum organizers said. Founded in 2007 by a group of faith and community leaders, it continues to be led by a board of directors that features a mixture of clergy, community organization representatives and local activists. Directors hired the organization’s first full-time executive director and part-time administrative assistant this past spring.
The organization’s programming over the past five years has focused on three primary areas – building a movement around core principles, mobilizing Missourians in response to key health care opportunities and threats, and educating community members about health care issues, in particular the Affordible Care Act. Through their work, organization leaders hope to give community members and leaders meaningful ways to impact health policy.
The Missouri Health Care for All movement is built on a belief that access to health care is an issue of morality, justice and the dignity of every person.
For more information about the organization, visit www.mohealthcareforall.org or call 877-383-8884. For more information about the Oct. 29 forums, contact Barbara Nyden at 417-255-7279 or BNyden@MissouriState.edu.