Confused about Obamacare changes? NCCU forum hopes to clear the air.

Herald-Sun (Durham, NC)

Oct. 18--DURHAM -- If you're confused about all the changes being made to the country's health care system, you're not alone.

President Donald Trump's decision to end federal health insurance subsidies is just another variable that could cause insurance premiums to rise next year for North Carolinians using plans covered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

N.C. Central will be hosting a forum Thursday, Oct. 19 from 6-7:30 p.m. that will examine the status of health care in the United States and recent changes in the ACA. The free forum will take place in the Miller-Morgan Health Science Auditorium, 528 Nelson St., and is being sponsored by the NCCU Public Health Education Department.

Topics will include proposed changes to the ACA, also known as Obamacare, and an examination of health care alternatives in the American system. Healthcare affordability also will be on the agenda for discussion.

"We've been looking at healthcare in America and discovered that the efforts to correct problems seem only to create additional problems," NCCU health policy professor La Verne M. Reid said. "The forum will be asking, 'If we were to start over, what should health care in America look like?'"

Forum participants will include Carolyn Hinton of CAARE Inc., which provides health care for patients in Durham who lack insurance; Connie Boone, a benefits administrator for employees of NCCU; Scott Edmonds, of the MDC youth engagement program in Durham; and Brenden Riley from the N.C. Justice Center.

Joe Johnson: 919-419-6678, @JEJ_HSNews