It’s just a short piece in Voice of Alexandria.
As the Obamacare deadline approaches (whenever that is!), Somalis are signing up in large numbers for Medicaid in Minnesota thus taking the burden of their healthcare off “welcoming” Minnesota and placing it on US taxpayers.
Mosque visits were successful.
(St. Paul, MN) — Officials say efforts to enroll Somali immigrants for health coverage via Medicaid in Minnesota have been largely successful. Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson says with the help of the Somali Health Solutions group, enrollment expectations are being exceeded.
She says they had a goal of enrolling 500 before the end of march and have already enrolled over a thousand and many of them in public programs. Jesson says the outreach efforts have included events at mosques and community centers throughout the state.
She says the high numbers are especially encouraging, because a recent Minnesota Health Access Survey shows that people of color are more likely than whites to be uninsured.
How many Somalis in Minnesota?
For new readers, besides the hundreds/thousands?* of new refugees being resettled in Minnesota each year, in 2012 over 2000 secondary migrants (largely Somalis) went to live in Minnesota.
By the way, this 2011 post is still one of our top posts on most days—how did we get so many Somalis in Minneapolis?
*Until recently we could see the statistics at a US State Department contracted website about how many of which ethnic group were being resettled in every resettlement city and town in America, but the feds have removed from public view those website pages at WRAPSnet. Heck, I can’t even get on the website anymore! Your US Senator or Congressman can request those statistics, including the religions of the refugees resettled.