Donna Deegan effort leads to more Jacksonville residents getting health insurance
'Get Covered Jax' cut the uninsured rate by a third in recent months. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan's campaign, Get Covered Jax!, has resulted in a 34% increase in the city's uninsured rate to 40,726 residents, a significant increase from the previous 120,000 people who lacked coverage. The campaign, which began in the fall, provided vital information for citizens to enroll in health insurance. The city's first Chief Health Officer, Sunil Joshi, also commended the success of the campaign, stating that more people will now have access to preventative health services such as yearly physical exams, blood work, vaccinations and cancer screening. While it is unknown whether this will lead to better health outcomes, Deegan’s progress could be a positive for local outcomes.
Published : a month ago by A.G. Gancarski in Health Finance
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is taking a victory lap in the wake of a campaign to get more of her city’s residents health insurance.
When the Get Covered Jax campaign was begun last fall, roughly 120,000 locals lacked coverage. But now that it’s over, 40,726 people who didn’t have coverage now do.
“I am thrilled that Get Covered Jax! was so successful,” Deegan said.
“I often say that a confused mind says ‘no,’ and this campaign provided important information for our citizens so they could say ‘yes’ to enrolling in health insurance. I want Jacksonville to be a healthier city because health, both physical and mental, is key to our economic prosperity. And the fact that Get Covered Jax! helped reduce our uninsured rate by 34% is a tremendous first step in helping us get there. I look forward to reducing this rate even further during the next open enrollment period.”
Deegan’s choice for the city’s first Chief Health Officer, Sunil Joshi, made similar points.
“More people will now have access to preventative health services including yearly physical exams, blood work, vaccinations and cancer screening that can help keep people healthy,” Joshi said
“It is very encouraging to see so many people take advantage of signing up for marketplace insurance. This is just the beginning of our road to being one of the healthiest communities in the country.”
Improving local health outcomes has been a priority of Jacksonville Mayors for some years now, even before Deegan was elected.
Former Mayor Lenny Curry launched in his first term a “Journey to One” campaign, which included a call for “monthly mayorthons,” to challenge locals to walk, run, or step master 26.2 miles a month with the goal of locals losing a million pounds: about a pound per resident.
But that campaign didn’t meaningfully improve health outcomes. Duval County performs worse than the average county in Florida and the average county in the United States, with more smoking, obesity, excessive drinking, sexually transmitted diseases and physical inactivity.
Unlike Deegan, Curry didn’t push signing up for Affordable Health Care Act insurance plans for locals.
While it’s yet unknown whether more insurance access will lead to better health, Deegan’s progress on that front could be a positive for local outcomes.
Topics: Insurance