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NARRATOR: It is important to take care of yourself and your body so you can stay healthy.
Your good health means you can spend time with your family,
go to work or school, and enjoy a happy life.
Health and happiness money can't buy.
In the United States, you can stay healthy by having a doctor whom you see regularly, even if you do not feel sick.
This is called primary care.
Primary care tries to help you from getting sick, or to find the problem when it is still small.
It also treats you if you are sick or have long-term problems.
This approach to staying healthy may be different from what you are used to in your own country.
SPEAKER: Visiting the doctor and treating a major illness can cost a lot of money.
I have health insurance to help pay for doctor's visits, medicine and other health care.
Because I have health insurance, it is easier to go to my doctor for health care.
People who have health insurance make regular payments to an insurance company.
Those payments are called premiums.
The insurance company pays a big part of your health care costs when you visit the doctor
because you've been paying premiums to the insurance company.
We'll talk about premiums later.
No one plans to get sick or hurt.
I feel good having health insurance to protect my family and myself if something does happen and we need health care.
PROVIDER: My patients receive health insurance in different ways.
For example, some of my patients get health insurance through their jobs.
Others can get help from the government.
Some of my patients have health insurance through Medicaid or Refugee Medical Assistance,
which is paid by the government.
SPEAKER: Medicaid is a government health insurance program that helps low-income children and their parents,
pregnant women, people with disabilities and older people.
Refugees can get health insurance through Medicaid for many years.
The state where you live may have a different name for Medicaid.
If you are not eligible for Medicaid, you might be eligible for Refugee Medical Assistance.
Refugee Medical Assistance is a lot like Medicaid, but it will only last for eight months.
NARRATOR: The Affordable Care Act is a new law in the United States that helps more people get health insurance.
SPEAKER: Refugees like you and me will receive many benefits thanks to this law.
The most important change for us is getting health insurance that will last longer
than the eight months under Refugee Medical Assistance.
Before this law, people like me had a hard time getting health insurance after the first eight months.
A few of us got health insurance through our jobs.
But most of us had to go without health insurance.
That made it difficult for us to see a doctor, get medicine or just take care of our health.
But the new law changes all of that.
NARRATOR: The Affordable Care Act gives people two new options.
First, many States will expand Medicaid so that more people will be eligible.
Second, people will be able to buy health insurance from a marketplace that sells insurance at a good price.
Let's talk about each new option one by one.
SPEAKER: Beginning in 2014, you don't have to be a child, parent, pregnant,
disabled or older to get Medicaid in many States.
People like me who are between 19 and 64 years old can get Medicaid
even though I don't fit into one of those categories.
You are eligible for Medicaid based on how much money your family in the U.S. earns each year
and how many people are in your family.
When you apply for health insurance they will ask you these types of questions.
NARRATOR: When you apply for health insurance,
you will find out if you make too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
Another way to get health insurance is to buy it at a good price through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
You can get financial assistance to help you pay for the health insurance.
That type of assistance is called a tax credit.
SPEAKER: For example, under the new law, my family of four will pay $80 a month,
and the government will help us by paying $890.
If it wasn't for the new law, I don't know how my family could afford health insurance.
NARRATOR: Applying for health insurance under the new law is easy.
You can find out if you are eligible for Medicaid
or if you can get help paying for health insurance by submitting one application.
SPEAKER: You can apply online at healthcare.gov.
You can also apply by phone, by mail or in-person.
You will need information about who you are, how much your family earns
and how many people are in your family when you apply.
You can start applying on October 1, 2013.
Please apply early to make sure your health insurance starts on January 1, 2014.
NARRATOR: The Affordable Care Act helps you and your family to afford health insurance
so you can visit the doctor and get the health care you need to stay healthy.
To learn more about how the Affordable Care Act can help you,
including resources in your state, visit these website addresses.
If you have more questions, ask your case manager for more information
or call the Office of Refugee Resettlement at 202-401-9246.
For more information, visit healthcare.gov or call 1-800-318-2596 and ask for an interpreter. Visit or call anytime, day or night.
We would like to thank the refugees, community health workers, and service organizations that made this video possible.
New American Center, Lynn, MA. Lynn Community Health Center. Refugee and Immigrant Health Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Produced by Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center with funding from the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.