logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Complimentary Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

AmeriCorps Healthcare Insurance Coverage Should Be Fixed

Rick Cohen
January 10, 2014
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

AmeriCorps

January 2, 2014; Des Moines Register

 

The press coverage about the shortcomings of healthcare insurance for AmeriCorps VISTA workers has been a little sparse beyond the New York Times and the Nonprofit Quarterly. An editorial that has been reprinted in a couple of press outlets criticizes the Obama administration for offering an insurance program that clearly fell short of the minimum standards of the Affordable Care Act. 

Defenders of the administration’s late announcement of the health plan’s noncompliance, three years after the enactment of the ACA, suggested that it might have been difficult for the implementers of health insurance reform to have been on top of everything that the ACA might affect, such as the AmeriCorps health plan. The administration’s broader defense is that the health insurance plan isn’t technically considered health insurance and, moreover, that VISTA workers aren’t technically paid government employees, but rather stipended volunteers. The latter means that the U.S. government views itself under no obligation to provide VISTA workers with ACA-compliant coverage. 

However, the Corporation for National and Community Service purportedly had been assuring VISTA workers during this three-year period that their coverage worked for ACA purposes. Now, in the wake of the announcement that VISTA workers might be hit with individual coverage penalties due to their lack of adequate coverage, VISTA workers are being encouraged to get coverage on their parents’ health insurance policies or, because of their extraordinarily low incomes, apply for Medicaid coverage. 

However, an exploration of blogs and listservs frequented by VISTA workers and other AmeriCorps stipended volunteers reveals that the shortcomings of health coverage for VISTAs was a well known source of problems in the program for some years, even before the advent of the ACA:

Describing the “mediocre” aspects of AmeriCorps service, one volunteer wrote, “You can receive health insurance, which works well for simple visits to Target Clinic and is great for prescriptions but anything serious or that requires hospital stays requires that you call them to discuss it.”

Another was a bit more blunt: “The big drawbacks, no sugar-coating…the ‘health insurance’ is bullshit.” A second-year AmeriCorps participant was equally blunt: “Your medical/dental benefits will suck. They are very basic—very. And you are encouraged to get supplemental insurance during your service. I have many examples, both personal and co-worker based, on the level of suckage of the benefits.” 

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

In most cases, the negative comments about AmeriCorps healthcare came from AmeriCorps participants who were otherwise supportive of the work they were doing in the field and recommending that others join them. For example: 

“I’d say that if you are still under your parents health insurance and know that the organization is reputable and that there will be other VISTAs there, go for it. It really can be rewarding if you find the right place… The real complaint I have is the health coverage. I now have some debt from a medical visit that I was told was covered but because the doctor did NOT do a certain test, it was not covered. As someone pointed out, the prescription coverage is fantastic.”

In many cases, health coverage is the only complaint: “If there’s anything to complain about regarding the program, it would be the lack of a decent health insurance policy. What [the plan administrator] Seven Corners offers is just terrible.”

While AmeriCorps volunteers, including VISTAs, will sometimes complain about the incredibly low compensation, the lack of unemployment insurance coverage after they leave (because they aren’t government employees), and other factors, most didn’t join the program blind. The VISTA program was always one which closely fit the description President Lyndon Johnson gave the nation’s first group of 20 VISTA volunteers: “Your pay will be low; the conditions of your labor often will be difficult,” he said, “But you will have the satisfaction of leading a great national effort and you will have the ultimate reward which comes to those who serve their fellow man.”

But healthcare is different. Like Medicaid and Medicare, both products of the War on Poverty that gave birth to the VISTA program itself, the ACA is a program that reflects a national commitment that every American, no matter what his or her circumstances, should have health insurance coverage. Low, poverty-level wages are not an excuse for the nation to put these social action volunteers into lifelong debt due to medical costs, whether preexisting conditions, not covered by their AmeriCorps insurance, or specialty treatments. This healthcare coverage snafu is particularly ironic, as many AmeriCorps volunteers are working in programs aiming to extend access to healthcare for people in need. 

According to the editorial, “AmeriCorps needs to update its current health benefit to ensure it meets minimum coverage requirements in the reform law…Obama has been a staunch supporter of national service, and he should shelter volunteers from any penalties until this is sorted out.” It adds, “Americans who have dedicated themselves to serving their country in a federal volunteer program should not be caught in the cross hairs of the federal health reform law.”—Rick Cohen

KEYWORDS: 

 

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Health EquityNonprofit NewsPolicyVolunteerismWhite House / Executive Branch

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

Spring-2023-sidebar-subscribe
You might also like
A Growing Movement of Sabbaticals for BIPOC Leaders
Nineequa Blanding
HLTH 2022: Obstacles to Health Equity
Sonia Sarkar
Leaders Say Public Health Ethics Is Necessary for Social Justice
Nineequa Blanding
How do water shutoffs impact low-income communities?
Iris Crawford
Slow Food Wants to Bring Justice, Education, and Joy to the Food Experience
Brandy Collins
Cancelling Student Debt Is Necessary for Racial Justice
Kitana Ananda

NPQ Webinars

April 27th, 2 pm ET

Liberatory Decision-Making

How to Facilitate and Engage in Healthy Decision-making Processes

Register Now
You might also like
A Growing Movement of Sabbaticals for BIPOC Leaders
Nineequa Blanding
HLTH 2022: Obstacles to Health Equity
Sonia Sarkar
Leaders Say Public Health Ethics Is Necessary for Social...
Nineequa Blanding

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

NPQ-Spring-2023-cover

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.