Need some good news?

 

3 More Cosponsors for Federal M4A Act!

These days, the news about what's happening in Washington can be hard to watch, which is why it's especially exciting to celebrate THREE wins in one week! Congratulations to activists in Ohio, New Jersey, and Florida for bringing the total number of Congressional Representatives cosponsoring the Medicare for All Act up to 120!

Representative Donald Norcross of New Jersey had agreed to cosponsor federal Medicare for All legislation in 2018 but hadn't signed on to the Medicare for all Act for the past two sessions. Fortunately, our affiliates at NJ Universal Healthcare Coalition, Our Revolution, National Nurses United, Center for Popular Democracy, and many others wouldn't rest until Norcross was back on board! Help us spread the news about Rep. Norcross by sharing our posts on Facebook and Twitter!

Shontel Brown of Ohio District 11 signed on just a week after noted Medicare for All supporter Nina Turner declared that she will be challenging Brown again for her seat in the upcoming primary. Many thanks to our friends at Single Payer Action Network Ohio and all of the other folks fighting on the ground to make Ohio the kind of place where you need to support Medicare for All to be a competitive candidate! Help us spread the news about Rep. Brown by sharing our posts on Facebook and Twitter!

Rep Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida was just elected in a special election this year to fill the seat of late Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Medicare for All Act cosponsor who passed away in 2021. Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick is carrying on the tradition of supporting Medicare for All in her district by signing on as a cosponsor herself. Shout out to our friends at the Florida Medicare for All Organizing Committee who are keeping up the fight for Medicare for All throughout the state!  Help us spread the news about Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick by sharing our posts on Facebook and Twitter!

Speaking of Congresspeople who support the Medicare for All Act, have we mentioned that Lead Sponsor of the bill and healthcare justice champion Rep. Pramila Jayapal will be speaking at our online Medicare for All Strategy Conference coming up in April? There's still time to register here!   In solidarity, Ben and Gillian Healthcare-NOW staff

Healthcare-NOW is a grassroots organization that fights to end the healthcare crisis by educating and advocating for improved Medicare-for-All legislation.  Healthcare-NOW 1534 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02120-2929 United States

Who inspires you to keep fighting?

 

I fight for Windy!

Dear Friends, Over the past two months, I’ve written to you a lot to ask you to donate to Healthcare-NOW, but today I wanted to share why I became a donor. Meet my friend Windy:

When I first met her in 2014, Windy was in a brutal fight with the world’s largest company. She was 63 years old then and had been working full-time at a Walmart in upstate New York for a decade when she had a heart attack at the store. Because she couldn’t work while she was recovering for 8 months, she lost her healthcare, leaving her broke from medical expenses. When she finally got back to work, the company had cut her hours back to part time, the health insurance Walmart provided was expensive and barely adequate, and she still found herself skipping meals to pay for medicine and doctors. Most people in Windy’s situation end up suffering in silence, but Windy is a fighter. She joined up with hundreds of fellow Walmart workers from around the country and put her livelihood on the line to organize for respect on the job and comprehensive healthcare for herself and her co-workers. She fought for years to win even tiny improvements in the healthcare Walmart workers receive. She also became a vocal supporter of Medicare For All. Today, Windy no longer works at Walmart, and she was able to enroll in Medicare, but even now, thanks to flaws and gaps in the current Medicare system, she’s struggling to pay a $4,000 ER bill for a recent visit. She’s fighting the hospital to settle on a monthly payment she can afford, but they aren’t budging. Like I said, Windy has always been a fighter, and she’ll always stand up for what’s right, but here’s the thing — she, and the millions of other workers like her, shouldn’t have to spend their lives fighting for the medical care they need to survive. They shouldn’t have to battle hospitals and their employers for access to a doctor. They shouldn’t have to go without healthcare when they’re out of work. If we could pass the federal Medicare For All Act in 2022, which would improve and expand Medicare to everyone in this country, folks wouldn’t have to fight quite so hard. That’s why I made a donation to Healthcare-NOW this week in honor of Windy. I wanted to pay tribute to her indomitable spirit by strengthening the movement that Healthcare-NOW is working to build. I wanted to make sure that we have the resources we need to make real healthcare justice a reality. Do you have a Windy in your life? Someone who inspires you to keep fighting? I invite you to join me in making a contribution this holiday season in honor of someone you know who deserves better than our current healthcare system. Together, we can make real change! On behalf of Windy and Ben and the whole team at Healthcare-NOW, thank you for all you do. We hope you’ll have some time this holiday season to rest up and get ready for a new year filled with good health and good trouble! In solidarity, Gillian Healthcare-NOW staff Healthcare-NOW 1534 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02120-2929 United States

Heartbreaking Testimony at Massachusetts M4A Hearing

 

A Mother's Nightmare Our for-profit medical system forces us all to make painful choices, but at the Massachusetts Medicare For All hearing last week organized by our friends at Mass-Care, legislators heard from a mother who was forced to make the most painful choice of all: giving up her son in order to get him the medical care he needs.  Five years ago, Candice's son developed severe mental health issues that required an urgent intervention in order to keep him from harming himself. Unable to afford the extensive treatment necessary to save their son's life, Candice and her husband were advised that the only way to keep him safe was to report him to law enforcement. As she put it, "We gave up our rights as parents for mental health care."  With the help of Healthcare-NOW, Candice was able to find the words and the courage to speak up for families like hers. (You can explore our online course on how to tell your own healthcare story here.) In her brave testimony last Tuesday, Candice -- now a passionate advocate for healthcare justice -- made an eloquent and heartbreaking plea for legislators to vote yes on Medicare for All, so that in the future, working families wouldn't have to make this kind of impossible decision. You can hear the rest of Candice's story in her own words here. A warning though: it is difficult to watch.

In addition to Candice, legislators heard testimony from more patients, nurses, and other advocates -- including our own Ben Day, speaking on the dental crisis for America's seniors that could be solved by Medicare for All. You can check out more highlights from the hearing here. In solidarity, Ben and Gillian Healthcare-NOW staff Healthcare-NOW 1534 Tremont St. Boston, MA 02120-2929 United States