Affordable Care Act Featured on Next Edition of METROFOCUS

A new edition of the award-winning series MetroFocus premieres in the New York metro area Wednesday, September 25 at 7:30 p.m. on WLIW21 and Thursday, September 26 at 8:30 p.m. on THIRTEEN and at 10:30 p.m. on NJTV.

The next edition of MetroFocus features an in-depth look at what happens next as the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, rolls out on October 1. Reporter Rick Karr talks to the people on the frontlines who will have to explain the new health care exchange rules in New York. Karr visits The Floating Hospital in Long Island City, one of the city's oldest hospitals serving the poor, where the staff is gearing up to help the uninsured navigate the new insurance plans and walks viewers through theonline process New York is using.

Host Rafael Pi Roman follows up with an in-studio discussion with Avik Roy, Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and Jim Tallon, President of the United Hospital Fund of New York. Roy tells Pi Roman,"Globally across the country, on average people will see rates increase." But Tallon warns, "Beware of averages!" Tallon says, "The most important message is, if you're looking for health insurance coverage, go visit the exchange, visit the marketplace and see how it works for you."

Now that the two leading candidates for mayor call Brooklyn home, what do we Need to Know about the borough? Longtime Brooklyn historian John Manbeck joins the program to talk about his new book,"Chronicles of Historic Brooklyn," and Brooklyn's journey from a separate city to home of the hipsters. Almost a year after Superstorm Sandy,NJ Today reporter Desiree Taylor takes us back to Belmar, on the Jersey Shore, where residents are still struggling to get back into their homes.

As part of our Listening In series, we hear from U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the third annual New York Times "Schools for Tomorrow" conference. In conversation with The Times' David Leonhardt, Duncan says ".... the progress is real but I feel a huge sense of urgency, we are nowhere near where we need to go." And, staying on the subject of graduation rates, you'll see an excerpt from the upcoming live, seven-hour PBS broadcast,"American Graduate Day," to be broadcast from the WNET Tisch studios on September 28th. The multi-platform event is back for its second year, this time with a focus on volunteers. MetroFocus brings you a preview of one of the featured organizations: the Queens Central Library Discovery Center in Jamaica, Queens where the activities and programs are anything but quiet.

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