Abortion, Parkinson's, and State Based Universal Healthcare News
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Why Are We Advocates
Because we all deserve to live in a country where we can make the country, and healthcare work for all of us.
Comments, suggestions, and research topics are greatly appreciated via comment button.
Good News
Voters in a Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia decided yesterday decided that women’s health and the right to abortion matter and deserve protection. Those rights deserve to be protected everywhere. When people are targeted as unworthy of rights, democracy begins to die. When everyone has rights democracy flourishes.
ACTION
Let’s take a moment to remind our Representatives and Senators in Washington D.C. that we want those rights restored nationwide. Here are the 4 bills that address reproductive health care. Call/email them and let them know. (Contact info in the Resources section below)
HR 12 Women’s Health Protection Act to codify Roe v Wade,
H.R. 782 – Ensuring Women’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Act,
H.R. 3420 – My Body, My Data Act of 2023, &
H.R. 4303 – Abortion Justice Act (to help low income women)today.
Here is a Resistbot action I posted previously. https://resist.bot/petitions/PUVRUX to send the message. Text to 50409 SIGN PUVRUX. If you’ve used it once then call or email them this time. Thank you.
More Good News - Parkinson’s
I read through a lot of healthcare newsletters and I wanted to share this breakthrough research with you.
Background - Parkinson’s Foundation
Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately the dopamine-producing (“dopaminergic”) neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra.
Symptoms generally develop slowly over years. The progression of symptoms is often a bit different from one person to another due to the diversity of the disease. People with PD may experience:
Tremor, mainly at rest and described as pill rolling tremor in hands; other forms of tremor are possible
Slowness and paucity of movement (called bradykinesia and hypokinesia)
Limb stiffness (rigidity)
Gait and balance problems (postural instability)
Breakthrough
Ok - Did you notice the last symptom? Gait and balance problems. It becomes hard to walk. You start then stop, you’re unsteady. It is miserable. My uncle wound up on a walker. Balance and gait impairments are hallmark symptoms of Parkinson's disease and become increasingly prevalent as the disease progresses; they affect the majority of patients with late-stage Parkinson's disease and dominate the clinical presentation at 15 years after diagnosis.
Targeted spinal cord stimulation with an implanted neuroprosthesis helped a Parkinson's disease patient who had severe difficulty walking without falling, a proof-of-concept study showed. He is 62 years old and has had Parkinson’s for 30 years.
The picture at the top of the page is the patient who had a spinal implant.
When the patient wants to walk, he uses a remote control to send signals to the stimulator to activate leg neurons. After several weeks of rehabilitation, the patient walked almost normally. Two years later, he uses his neuroprosthetic device for about 8 hours a day, turning it off when he sits for long periods or sleeps. He regularly takes walks spanning several kilometers at a time.
Here is a link to the study listed at the National Institutes of Health and a Medpage Today report.
Universal Healthcare Update
Previously we reported that there are a number of states that are trying to implement Universal Healthcare. These are single payer insurance trusts to be managed by the individual states, so called One Payer programs. Public Insurance paying private providers.
The map below is a link to the One Payer States advocacy group. It will take you to an interactive US map that shows what is underway towards One Payer Universal Healthcare in each of 18 states (green in the map), together with links to organizations if you’d like to volunteer or learn more.
State Based Universal healthcare is a good idea since it will demonstrate how to implement the system and stands a pretty good change of passing at the state level before the federal.
If a state wants to implement such a system they must enroll Medicare, Medicaid, federal employees, and Tricare (military families and retirees) subscribers. The states will need waivers from the federal government to do that. The states must also be able to have private employers offer the state based insurance to employees. To do that there needs to be a waiver from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). There also needs to be some coordination with the IRS since employers payments for health insurance premiums are pre tax dollars, and individuals who purchase insurance on their own use after tax dollars.
Representative Ro Khanna of California has grouped all the waivers together in a single bill, HR 6270. It provides all required waivers and exemptions in one act of Congress, directed to each appropriate federal office for prompt action. The required waivers do not sunset. They are valid as long as the state demonstrates continued compliance with essential requirements:
Coverage of at least 95% of the state population.
All patients previously covered by a federal program continue to enjoy benefits at least as comprehensive as the original program.
Federal debt does not increase.
This bill, HR 6270, State Based Universal Healthcare, needs our help to make sure that our elected officials know we want them to act on it. We need to let them know over and over.
ACTION
Rep. Khanna's State Based Universal Health Care bill, SBUHC, HR 6270, will modify the federal restrictions on Medicare, Medicaid, ERISA, Tricare, and taxation, allowing states to create universal healthcare systems.
First, let’s call our Representative and Senators (202-224-3121) today and urge them to cosponsor and support SBUHC. Click HERE to view SBUHC talking points. (tailored for Oregon, but the message is clear).
Next we can send an email to them using these links from One Click politics. You can also forward these links below in email/texts/social media. Note there is a One Payer Statescontact button below your name and address. Leave it checked if you want One Payer States to get in touch with you. There is no request for donations. If you’ve done it before, you can do it again.
Send an SBUHC message for Representatives. Send an SBUHC message for Senators.
RESOURCES
Healthcare Advocacy (Us)
Website
Our Newsletter resources including reproductive healthcare
Healthcare Advocacy Reading List
Find My Elected Officials
Contact the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact State and Federal Representatives
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
Important Healthcare Resources
League of Women Voters Healthcare Reform Toolkit
Organizations to Contact
National Nurses United Medicare4All
Physicians for a National Health Program
One Payer States
Healthcare Now
Reproductive Health
NARAL - Pro Choice America
Charley. chatbot abortion resource - make sure to use a secure incognito browser if you live in a state that has banned abortion
Planned Parenthood
Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline has references about where to procure abortion medications. They also assist women in the process of self managed abortion or miscarriage by phone or text and will respond in an hour. Details and hours of operation at their website.
United State of Women Reproductive health page (bottom of the page) has important resources such as medical support, access to Telehealth, prescriptions by mail, and legal support references.
Practice careful communications - The Digital Defense Fund has a number of tips to keep texts, calls, and internet use private. Here is their site.
If you need financial help with an abortion try abortionfunds.org
Claims Denials and Appeals & What to Do
Appeal a Healthcare Decision
Appeal/Negotiate a Hospital Bill
Disinformation Management
Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency
Save Democracy
Chop Wood, Carry Water by Jessica Cravens
RESISTBOT
Link to the RESISTBOT site to learn more
Link to Chop Wood, Carry Water RESISTBOT write up
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