Local Effects of Healthcare Reform

When President Barack Obama signed healthcare reform into law, many uninsured Louisianans asked themselves, "How will this affect me and my family?"

The regional and local effects will be significant, says Dr. Karen DeSalvo, who holds the C. Thorpe Ray Chair in Internal Medicine and serves as vice dean for community affairs and healthcare policy.

Dr. Karen DeSalvo, vice dean for community affairs and healthcare policy at the Tulane School of
Medicine, talks about healthcare reform in this video produced by Brandon Meginley.

More than 20 percent of adult Louisiana residents are currently uninsured, according to a 2009 study by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. This is 4.7 percent higher than the overall national rate.

"Whether it is because [residents] are very low-income or because they are working-poor whose employers haven't been able to offer insurance, that is going to change," says DeSalvo.

DeSalvo recently was named co-chair of New Orleans mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu's health care task force.

Brandon Meginley is a senior majoring in journalism at Tulane University.