{"id":1936,"date":"2021-04-26T16:28:29","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T16:28:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/?p=1936"},"modified":"2021-04-26T16:28:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T16:28:29","slug":"covid-19-communities-of-color-and-other-buyers-beware-of-bold-promises-from-health-insurers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/covid-19-communities-of-color-and-other-buyers-beware-of-bold-promises-from-health-insurers\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19:  Communities of Color and Other Buyers, Beware of Bold Promises from Health Insurers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m_3378336324067710462gmail-mvp-content-wrap\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"m_3378336324067710462gmail-mvp-content-body\">\n<div id=\"m_3378336324067710462gmail-mvp-content-body-top\">\n<div id=\"m_3378336324067710462gmail-mvp-content-main\">\n<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has brought issues of healthcare equity to the forefront of discussions of racial justice. Even when controlling for factors like age and income, communities of color have been much more severely impacted that white Americans.<\/p>\n<p>A recent\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kff.org%2Fmedicare%2Fpress-release%2Fthe-covid-19-pandemic-has-hit-people-of-color-the-hardest-including-among-people-with-medicare%2F&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637537926295528995%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=dB2IKk6f4GeNHLEGNy9BqqGinbxWteTOTJzzsnzsceY%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.kff.org%252Fmedicare%252Fpress-release%252Fthe-covid-19-pandemic-has-hit-people-of-color-the-hardest-including-among-people-with-medicare%252F%26data%3D04%257C01%257C%257Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%257C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%257C1%257C0%257C637537926295528995%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C1000%26sdata%3DdB2IKk6f4GeNHLEGNy9BqqGinbxWteTOTJzzsnzsceY%253D%26reserved%3D0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1619531585914000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGyY9rw3NixSxW7fhC4o78CXuM6NQ\">report<\/a>\u00a0by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that \u201colder Black, Hispanic, and American Indian\/Alaska Native adults were nearly twice as likely to die of COVID-19 as older White adults,\u201d and \u201ccases among Black and Hispanic Medicare beneficiaries were 1.6 times higher than the rate observed among White beneficiaries.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Access to healthcare and health insurance is a vital issue for African Americans. And it\u2019s important to be on the lookout for healthcare companies that make big promises but fail to deliver.<\/p>\n<p>In this context, let\u2019s take a look at Oscar Health, an insurance company that tries to appeal to consumers by positioning itself as a tech company. But its track record is questionable at best.<\/p>\n<p>The company has been investigated and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dfs.ny.gov%2Freports_and_publications%2Fpress_releases%2Fpr1812121&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637537926295528995%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=M6EE4R6%2Fgj0cDrf3DJfYJmUZ1%2BdeWgPZR15eWzsaP8o%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.dfs.ny.gov%252Freports_and_publications%252Fpress_releases%252Fpr1812121%26data%3D04%257C01%257C%257Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%257C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%257C1%257C0%257C637537926295528995%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C1000%26sdata%3DM6EE4R6%252Fgj0cDrf3DJfYJmUZ1%252BdeWgPZR15eWzsaP8o%253D%26reserved%3D0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1619531585914000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHkbEGXemXVaozjMQcNATv_Guheog\">fined<\/a>\u00a0by the NY State Department of Financial Services. During its expansion in New York, Oscar cut the number of doctors in its network by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2016%2F7%2F26%2F12257926%2Foscar-health-networks-new-york&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637537926295538986%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=y02nUssjm7Oi0mQg0Y1FdJHAOUF8sdWGeKx1i0uLJoI%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.vox.com%252F2016%252F7%252F26%252F12257926%252Foscar-health-networks-new-york%26data%3D04%257C01%257C%257Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%257C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%257C1%257C0%257C637537926295538986%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C1000%26sdata%3Dy02nUssjm7Oi0mQg0Y1FdJHAOUF8sdWGeKx1i0uLJoI%253D%26reserved%3D0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1619531585914000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFWOGHXQOeBezzABpfhlmmPocyPXA\">more than half<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The company also has connections to former Trump Administration officials. It was founded by Jared Kushner\u2019s brother Josh, and its parent company, Thrive Capital, was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2017%2F01%2F13%2Ftechnology%2Fjared-kushner-brother-joshua-kushner-spotlight.html%3F_r%3D0&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637537926295548981%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=DWCoo%2F7XEBfPOTNLyjgAOciSFTRxbdmEifgWQmMruFA%3D&amp;reserved=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nytimes.com%252F2017%252F01%252F13%252Ftechnology%252Fjared-kushner-brother-joshua-kushner-spotlight.html%253F_r%253D0%26data%3D04%257C01%257C%257Ccafe6f8baf2e41b6f4cf08d8fd5dbb37%257C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%257C1%257C0%257C637537926295548981%257CUnknown%257CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%253D%257C1000%26sdata%3DDWCoo%252F7XEBfPOTNLyjgAOciSFTRxbdmEifgWQmMruFA%253D%26reserved%3D0&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1619531585914000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMyjikPoOzbEoWvnW3f0dGTUAeEw\">partly owned<\/a>\u00a0by Kushner until he took a job at the White House. And the company is run by serial Wall Street investors who seem primarily interested in flipping companies for a profit.<\/p>\n<p>Even more concerning, Oscar has been expanding into the Medicare Advantage program, where they can leverage taxpayer money to provide health coverage to our seniors. That means one of our most vulnerable communities could be opting into a company that has questions hanging over it.<\/p>\n<p>African Americans clearly need better health insurance. But we can\u2019t get lured in by companies that are more interested in taking money than providing real healthcare benefits.<\/p>\n<p>So, before you make a decision about health insurance, please get more than one opinion or option.\u00a0\u00a0There are healthcare insurance companies that are considerably more equitable and beneficial.\u00a0Healthcare for all is both a fundamental civil and human right.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has brought issues of healthcare equity to the forefront of discussions of racial justice. Even when controlling for factors like age and income, communities of color have been much more severely impacted that white Americans. A recent\u00a0report\u00a0by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that \u201colder Black, Hispanic, and American Indian\/Alaska Native adults were<a class=\"read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/covid-19-communities-of-color-and-other-buyers-beware-of-bold-promises-from-health-insurers\/\"> Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[661,804,40,5,1],"tags":[825,729],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1937,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1936\/revisions\/1937"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.nahtnow.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}