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A Good Day To Advocate for Better Healthcare
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The Internet and Medicine
More than 23 million low-income households — urban, suburban, rural, and tribal — are enrolled in the federal discount program Congress created in 2021 to bridge the nation’s digital connectivity gap. It is called the Affordable Connectivity Program. The program has provided $30 monthly subsidies for internet bills or $75 discounts in tribal and high-cost areas.
But the program is expected to run out of money in April or May, according to the Federal Communications Commission. In January, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel asked Congress to allocate $6 billion to keep the program running until the end of 2024.
In December, federal regulators surveyed program recipients and found that 22% reported no internet service before, and 72% said they used their ACP-subsidized internet to “schedule or attend healthcare appointments.”
Estimates of how many low-income U.S. households qualify for the program vary, but experts agree that only about half of the roughly 50 million eligible households have signed on. Lack of access will take a toll on healthcare.
Let’s ask Congress to pony up the money to keep the discounts in place so telehealth is available.
ACTION
Call or email your Member of Congress and Senators and remind them that affordable internet access enables education, remote work and most importantly telehealth. Ask them to make available the $6 billion needed to keep the program running through 2024. Contact info for them is in the Resources Section below.
Or use RESISTBOT by texting SIGN PDFRZM to 50409 to send the email below.
“I am your constituent and I want you to know that the Affordable Connectivity Program helps provide internet access to low income Americans. Internet access helps students further their education, supports remote employment and makes tele-health available. 72% of the people on the program use it for healthcare and tele-health.
The ACP is short $6 billion to the end of the 2024. Please make available those funds to help bridge the digital divide in our country.”
Pig Transplant Update
The first patient to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig has fared so well that he was discharged from the hospital yesterday, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery. The transplant and its encouraging outcome represent a remarkable moment in medicine, scientists say, possibly heralding an era of cross-species organ transplantation. (NY Times)
Alzheimer’s News
Scientists may be one step closer to a new treatment for Alzheimer's disease, with the help of our brain's own cellular cleanup crew. Alzheimer's affects roughly 5.8 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a new study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, researchers from Washington University in St. Louis used mice and human brain tissue to investigate how these microglia are controlled at a cellular level, and how this control changes during Alzheimer's.
To confirm whether this had anything to do with the build up of abnormal proteins in the patient's brains, the researchers demonstrated that expressing the human LILRB4 "off switch" in genetically engineered mice disrupted the activity of the mice's cellular cleanup crews, allowing abnormal proteins to build up in the mice's brains.
However, when they blocked this molecular off switch, the activity of the mice's microglia was restored and the levels of abnormal proteins in their brains decreased. This was matched by improvements in cognitive behaviors, including their ability to solve a simple maze.
More study needed - watch this space. (Newsweek)
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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