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INCORPORATING THE WEST HEMPSTEAD BEACON VOL. 76 No. 02
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THE LEADER IN PROP ERTY TAX REDUCT ION
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amara Martin and her husband, dJ arson, were all smiles for a holiday charity event.
Elmont couple putting a name to their charity Amara Martin and Kezley Martin touching community with philanthropy By HAILEy FULmER hfulmer@liherald.com
For the past six years, Amara Martin, 35 and her husband, Kezley Martin, both have lifted their community in Elmont through their philanthropic endeavors, completing their charitable work without placing an official name on it. But, starting this year, all of that will change. Since they are well known in the area for their philanthropy, and Kezley, also known as DJ Arson, has established a significant community presence with his work as a DJ, they have decided to formally name their nonprofit, The Arson Cares Foundation. “We decided we wanted to keep everything familiar,” Amara said. “Because a lot of people know the name, they know him, especially in Elmont, so it kind of just ties everything together.”
Last month, the couple volunteered at a holiday giveaway held at Elmont Memorial Library, where toys were distributed to local children. Elmont Cultural Center and Meera Empowerment hosted the event, which also featured cupcakes, hot cocoa and crafts. The couple donated so many toys at the event that they couldn’t give them all away, so the following day, they ran a mini toy drive out of their car at the Valley Stream Walmart. Their nonprofit will focus on helping those in family shelters, but as it expands, they are hoping to reach every community member in need. The couple, life-long Elmont residents and Elmont Memorial High School graduates, began their charity work in 2020 by combining car shows and toy drives. Kezley’s love for cars is COntinued On Page 3
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“We don’t know at this point if he can continue his care with his Mount Sinai doctors or if we’ll need to find inThousands of Long Island residents network doctors elsewhere,” Potter said, insured by Anthem Blue Cross Blue describing his care at MSSN as “excepShield enter the new year facing uncer- tional and lifesaving.” “It’s also scary to consider that our tainty over their medical care after contract negotiations between the insur- local hospital is no longer the one that ance plan provider the Mount Sinai we would go to in an emergency because Health System broke down, leaving phy- it no longer accepts our insurance,” she sicians out of the Anthem network as of added. Under state and federal law, emergenJan. 1 and hospitals potentially followcy care must still be covered at in-neting in March. The lapse affects roughly 9,000 Mount work rates regardless of contract status. Sinai physicians, who are no longer con- However, non-emergency care provided sidered in-network providers for out of network can result in significantly higher out-of-pocket Anthem members. If no expenses, including agreement is reached, all increased deductibles and Mount Sinai hospitals and coinsurance. facilities — including Mount Sinai officials Mount Sinai South Nassau, warned that many patients in Oceanside — are schedmight pay more to continuled to leave the network ue seeing their doctors, on March 1. especially those who do not Patients now find themqualify for continuity-ofselves caught in the middle care protections. The of a dispute they had no health system also disputes role in creating. Anthem’s claims that alterAmy Potter, of Long native in-network providBeach, whose husband, ers offer comparable qualiVan, recently survived a ty at lower cost. massive cardiac arrest, Amy POttER “Almost all the alternasaid the timing of the dis- Long Beach tives Anthem promotes are pute has left her family more expensive than shaken. Van was admitted to Mount Sinai South Nassau’s intensive care unit Mount Sinai without offering similar on Dec. 22 and discharged on Dec. 31 — quality care,” Mount Sinai officials said one day before the Mount Sinai-Anthem in a statement. Anthem disputes that assertion, saycontract expired. “When my husband was in critical ing that “every other major health syscondition in the ICU, the last thing I was tem in New York remains in our netthinking about was whether our insur- work, including NYU Langone Health, ance would cover the cost of the critical New York-Presbyterian, Northwell care he was receiving,” Potter said. “I Health and Montefiore Health System.” At the center of the dispute are can’t event imagine what our family would be facing in the months ahead if sharply conflicting claims about costs. Mount Sinai says it sought single-digit the timing had been different.” Both Amy and her husband received annual rate increases over a three-year letters this week notifying them of the period, and argues that Anthem curchanges. With months of follow-up rently pays it as much as 35 percent less recovery and rehabilitation ahead, the than other major New York health sysuncertainty, she said, is overwhelming. COntinued On Page 4
By ABIGAIL GRIECO
Courtesy Amara Martin
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can’t event imagine what our family would be facing in the months ahead if the timing had been different.