Local Expert Gives Talk About Obamacare

About 30 members of the Newcomers and Friends of Pacific Palisades gathered on Thursday, November 14, to listen to Palisadian Gerald Kominski talk about the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare,

Kominski, who is Director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, has become a go-to expert on the controversial healthcare program, appearing on many TV and radio stations, including NBC, KCAL and KTLA. In the last few months alone, Kominski has given more than 50 interviews on the hot-button topic.
His wife, Laurie Kominski, who is Vice President of the social club, hosted the event in their condominium on Haverford.
In his talk, Kominski bypassed politics and focused instead on the nuts and bolts of applying for health insurance through Covered California (coveredca.com), the state-run health insurance exchange website. Covered California operates independently of the maligned federal website (healthcare.gov).
Kominski also touched on how the law may affect some Palisades residents. Palisadians who may be directly affected by the new law, according to Kominski, are those with pre-existing health conditions. “Now you can’t be denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, and you can’t be charged more because of it,” Kominski said.
Some of the more elderly attendees at the luncheon asked about Medicare. “Everybody is concerned about healthcare, even though most of us are on Medicare,” Highlands resident Melanie Bouer said. “We are unsure of the effects of the new law.”
“Medicare is largely exempt because it is largely compliant with the new provisions,” Kominski said.
Some Palisadians at the event voiced concerns about possible negative effects of the law. One attendee said her daughter’s employer had recently cut her hours from 40 hours a week to 30. The attendee said she thought this was done so the employer would not have to provide healthcare coverage.
The event was part of an on-going series of talks hosted by the social club. Other activities of the group include book discussions, film clubs, restaurant lunches, golf events and art gallery trips.