6 The Queens Courier • OCTOBER 3, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com POLS, SIKH COMMUNITY STAND AGAINST HATE BY MAGIE HAYES [email protected] Just days after a Sikh professor at Columbia University was brutally attacked, the Sikh community THE COURIER/Photo by Maggie Hayes The local community responded to an alleged hate crime against a Sikh American professor. Affordable Care Act: Marketplace sign up ongoing BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] The sign-up period for health insurance through the Health Care Marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, nicknamed Obamacare, is now under way. People can sign up through March 31, and consumers can apply for Marketplace coverage online, by mail or in-person. Coverage will take effect when provisions of the legislation start on January 1, 2014. The Marketplaces work either through individual state health departments or with the United States Department of Health and Human Services in 36 states. In New York consumers have to go to www.nystateofhealth.ny.gov if they want to apply for coverage under the Marketplace. Prices and applications in the Marketplace are now available. The exchanges are designed to help people find lower premiums. The system gathers all available insurance options in the state and rates them in a simple structure-- bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Bronze plans will be the cheapest with the fewest benefits, while platinum will be the most expensive. Obamacare will force companies to drop discrimination based on pre-existing conditions, so for example people with diabetes or asthma won’t be charged larger premiums or refused coverage. Some provisions of the health care reform act are already in action, such as children being able to stay on their parents’ health care plan until age 26. Since the legislation was designed to help people without insurance find coverage by making it more affordable, if someone already has a private health care plan or receives care through another method, such as a company plan, they will not need to apply for a new plan from the exchanges. Someone who does not have health insurance by January 1 will have to pay a fee of one percent of their income or $95, whichever is higher, and the fee for each uninsured child is $47.50, with a cap of $285 per family. This fee will increase every year, but there are ways to be exempted, such as being a member of a religious sect that has objections to insurance. For more information visit: https://www.healthcare.gov and elected officials gathered in Richmond Hill to speak out against what is being investigated as a hate crime. Dr. Prabhjot Singh was walking through Harlem on Saturday, September 21, when more than a dozen attackers shouted slurs such as “Osama” and “terrorist” before grabbing Singh’s beard and beating him to the ground, according to Assemblymember David Weprin and published reports. He suffered a fractured jaw in the attack, a family friend said. “You are not suffering alone,” Weprin said outside the Sikh Cultural Society. “Hate crimes against any group of people are intolerable and preventable.” Weprin stood alongside Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio, Councilmember and public advocate candidate Letitia James, Councilmember Leroy Comrie, Councilmember Mark Weprin and the Richmond Hill Sikh community, who all condemned the crime against Singh. “We have to stand up each and every time there’s a biased attack,” de Blasio said. He added the city should use “aggressive policing” against violent, biased crimes as well as utilize “every tool” to make sure these attacks don’t happen again. He specifically noted educating youth in schools about different religions. Sona Rai, Singh’s friend and spokesperson, said Singh is out of the hospital and already back at work. He now wants to give his attackers an opportunity to ask about his faith and his connection to the community, Gov. shutdown comes home to nest BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO, CRISTABELLE TUMOLA AND LIAM LA GUERRE [email protected] Wildlife expert Don Riepe usually gives a free annual hawk migration tour for members of the American Littoral Society and New York City Audubon during peak bird watching season. This year about 30 people are signed up, but his scheduled tour at Fort Tilden in Gateway National Recreation Area for Sunday, October 6 was cancelled due to the fact that the first government shutdown in nearly two decades has closed national parks. “People are greatly disappointed, because they look forward to this,” Riepe, a Broad Channel resident, said. “I think Americans should go to the parks and really demand to go in, because it’s ridiculous.” The shutdown started on Tuesday, October 1 following a congressional stalemate over the federal budget. The Republican-led House tried to defund and delay the Affordable Care Act, but the Democratic-controlled Senate refused to accept a bill that would derail “Obamacare.” “This shutdown is about rolling back our efforts to provide health insurance to folks who don’t have it.” President Barack Obama said. “Don’t wait. Don’t delay. Don’t put our economy or our people through this any longer.” Any employee or office that provides national security and conducts activities essential to the national security or the safety of life and property will remain open and working. This includes the U.S. military, air traffic controllers, prison guards, emergency personnel and border patrol agents. However, more than 800,000 federal workers are left without jobs temporarily. “This is a sad moment in our nation’s history where a band of Tea Party ideological extremists and their co-conspirators have shutdown the United States government,” said Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries. Due to the government shutdown all National Park facilities, including more than 400 national zoos, museums and parks, will be closed. Twenty-two national parks in New York will be closed including Gateway, the Statue of Liberty and eight other facilities. The United States Postal Service will still deliver mail and Social Security benefits will still be paid. Federal courts will remain open and are expected to continue operating normally for 10 business days after the shutdown begins. Airports will also remain open, with Transportation Security Administration security rules remaining intact. Despite the shutdown Congressmember Grace Meng said she will keep her offices in Flushing and Forest Hills open. Ironically, the government shutdown will not affect the Affordable Care Act. The Health Care Marketplace, which compiles and rates insurance offerings in each state, started accepting applications on Tuesday, October 1. Rai said. Rai, also a board member of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, added that the overwhelming support in response to Singh’s incident has given him a “renewed sense” of how important his work is. “The best way to deal with hate crimes in the city of New York is to come together,” James said. “We must respond forcefully as one community. Our differences are really are greatest strengths.”
QC10032013
To see the actual publication please follow the link above