Yale students to young people: get covered

With just 20 days left before the federal deadline for uninsured people to sign up for health insurance, it may take more than President Obama deadpanning it with Zach Galifianakis to get the word out. But a group of Yale medical, nursing, and public health students has been on the case for the past several months, as the Hartford Courant reports today.

Students for a Better Healthcare System, a campaign founded by Yale's chapter of the American Medical Student Association, has been giving presentations on the Affordable Care Act and how to sign up for health insurance to "local colleges, churches, PTA meetings, and anywhere else people gather in New Haven."

But even after this year's deadline, there's always next year, and SBHS cofounder Matthew Meizlish ’11 told the Courant that the group is looking to go national for the 2015 enrollment period. "We're very optimistic about the potential for schools in other states to bring this campaign to their communities," said Meizlish, an MD/PhD student at Yale. "Our goal is to build a national movement of young leaders who can shape the future direction of our health care system."

In the meantime, they might work on building their website. It's very informative until you click on the link to "Get Enrolled." In an unfortunate echo of Obamacare's first days, that link takes you to a page that reads "Website Under Counstruction."

___________________________________________

The Yale Alumni Magazine is published by Yale Alumni Publications Inc., an alumni-based nonprofit that is not run by Yale University. Its content does not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration.