Reverend Steven Cousin is the Pastor at the Bethel AME Church on Goffe Street in New Haven. Since he leads the church, he wanted to make sure his congregation knew about the Affordable Care Act and the options available in Connecticut.
“We were really trying to be active and encourage our members to at least take a look to see if this coverage is beneficial for you,” said Rev. Cousin.
Reverend Cousin took a look for himself and ended up signing up with Access Health CT. He says coverage for his family is $314 a month, compared to the $1200 he would pay with his previous health insurance. So he has no problem abiding by Governor Malloy's request for religious leaders to use this weekend to talk to their congregations about the upcoming health care deadline. Residents have until March 31 to sign up for health insurance or face penalties if they are uninsured.
“March 31st is a really important deadline to receive coverage by this year, so we're really trying to push it for those who have not actually signed up, to at least take a look at it,” said Rev. Cousin.
To date, more than 165,000 people have enrolled with Access Health CT. Bethel AME Church has already held three enrollment fairs itself and is thankful to be part of the process to help spread the word.
“I believe that the church should always be at the forefront of social issues, where we should always be that beacon of hope, where people should be able to come in and not only be able to get their spiritual lives fed, but also let them know what's going on in the community,” said Rev. Cousin.
