{"id":42376,"date":"2024-10-24T15:02:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T19:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=42376"},"modified":"2024-10-24T15:44:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T19:44:06","slug":"cronkite-news-health-care-at-stake-in-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2024\/10\/24\/cronkite-news-health-care-at-stake-in-presidential-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Health care at stake in presidential election"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Donald<\/a>
The Affordable Care Act became a primary sparring point between nominees Donald Trump and Kamala Harris at the presidential debate on September 10, 2024. While Harris affirmed her support for the ACA, Trump said he had \u201cconcepts\u201d of a \u201cbetter and less expensive\u201d plan to replace the landmark 2010 health reform law. Photo by Emma Jeanson \/ Cronkite News<\/figcaption>\r\n
Future of ACA, health insurance coverage at stake in presidential election<\/div>\r\n
Thursday, October 24, 2024<\/div>\r\n
By Madeline Nguyen<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

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WASHINGTON \u2013 Maria Losoya isn\u2019t a doctor. She can\u2019t treat patients, and she can\u2019t do surgeries. But in southern Arizona\u2019s border communities, she performs a special kind of life-saving health care. She\u2019s an expert at navigating the health insurance marketplace \u2013 in English and Spanish.<\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s a strength that has made Losoya a trusted face in her home of Santa Cruz County, where nearly one in three residents were uninsured in 2022 \u2013 the highest rate in the state, according to the National Institutes of Health. Day and night, community members call Losoya from hospital rooms to see how they can afford the treatment they need, from emergency care to chemotherapy.<\/p>\r\n

In her work, Losoya hopes to overcome the issues that have blocked people in the primarily Spanish-speaking county from accessing insurance and medical care, from language barriers to coverage misinformation.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cA lot of people were dying,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n

Losoya works as a navigator \u2013 a local community member who helps residents afford medical care by steering them through the health insurance enrollment process. Her position was created by the Affordable Care Act to help marginalized communities overcome barriers in accessing health insurance.<\/p>\r\n

In Arizona, navigators target a range of underserved communities, from Native Americans who live on parts of their tribal nations without internet access to immigrants who don\u2019t speak English as their primary language.<\/p>\r\n