Phoenix participating in Healthy Communities Challenge
Nov 8, 2015, 3:18 PM | Updated: 3:23 pm
PHOENIX — Phoenix is one of 20 cities participating in White House Healthy Communities Challenge which launched on Friday.
The goal of the program is to improve outreach efforts between the local government and uninsured citizens and help those citizens gain coverage.
The 20 cities were selected because of “large numbers or high percentages of uninsured in states across the country where strong federal, state and community collaboration can have a meaningful impact on reaching the uninsured,” a press release from the White House said. Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton is said to have embraced the challenge.
The Department of Health and Human Services will tally all the new sign ups in participating cities and publish the results.
“The victorious community gets bragging rights, a healthier community, and a visit from President Obama to celebrate their success in helping ensure every American has health coverage,” the release said.
There are 194,000 uninsured who are eligible for the Health Insurance Exchange, or Marketplace in the Phoenix area. Across the United States, 10.5 million people are eligible for Marketplace coverage, yet remain uninsured.
