HEALTHCARE REFORM -TOO MANY BANDAIDS
MARCH 9, 2023
Happy Thursday Healthcare Advocates
I am so thankful for all of you and for the actions you take to move us towards a universal healthcare system.
Too Many Band Aids
My wife and I work with a number of organizations healthcare tracking state legislation in Washington.
The session is about ½ over and if a bill hasn’t made it out of its house of origin then it is dead until next year (we are on a two year cycle).
Some things are still alive and have a chance, removing cost sharing from abortion care, a constitutional amendment to affirm reproductive health care and options such abortion care and contraception. Other important bills are dead like the republican sponsored anti-abortion bills. Sadly the Keep Our Care Act, is also dead for now. It sought to make sure that when hospitals merge, they cannot offer fewer services, like obstetrics, reproductive health care etc.
There is even one bill in the legislature that seeks to rip power away from hospitals to specify where services, like labs, x-rays etc, are performed in an effort to keep hospitals from over charging. The insurance companies would decide who can perform the services. This just takes money from one hand and puts it in another, leaving the consumer/patient out in the cold and feeling sick.
It’s no wonder healthcare workers, nurses and physicians are leaving the profession in droves (300,000 in one year). A recent study found that 10% of physicians have suicidal ideation (NOT GOOD). These people are demoralized by a system that does not allow them to care for people the way they were trained to do.
Remember how many counties are medical deserts in this country (way more than half).
We can fix this. We deserve to live in a country where we can have healthcare we can trust and rely on. Universal Healthcare is way more affordable than the band aided ball of confusion we have now. Rural hospitals will be funded, doctors allowed to care for patients. Even insurance companies will do well, Switzerland demonstrated that.
Ok Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal will be reintroducing her Universal Healthcare bill shortly. Let’s tell our Congressional Representatives and Senators and the President that we want it and we need them to do it.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY
RESISTBOT
Text SIGN PZTPVX to 50409 to send your Congressperson, Senators, and the Whitehouse this message (or use it on the phone or copy and paste it to email - Links are in the resources below)
We deserve a healthcare system that works for all of us, urban, rural, young and old, from cradle to grave, that does not have bankruptcy or premature death as side effects. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal will be reintroducing her Universal Healthcare bill shortly. I want you to actively support and pass this legislation.
The CBO has said on numerous occasions that it will save money for everyone. Even the Swiss demonstrated that their insurance industry made money with Universal Healthcare (selling optional policies).
You can do this. And while you’re there, I want you to make sure that women have the right to choose (IN LAW) and that the ERA has no deadline.
Resources
Contact White House or other federal agencies: usa.gov/federal-agencies
Contact the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Contact State and Federal Representatives
https://www.commoncause.org/find-your-representative/change-your-address
Contact all members of Congress
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot