AN OPEN LETTER to THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Pass H.R. 6270, the State-Based Universal Health Care Act!

371 so far! Help us get to 500 signers!

I strongly urge the Congressmember to support and help pass H.R. 6270, the State-Based Universal Health Care Act, introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna of California. This bill helps states test universal health plans that could be a model for a national plan - a Universal, Simple, and Affordable (USA) plan. A USA plan will drastically reduce administrative overhead, freeing billions of dollars for our health care and general welfare. With your support, states can save money and provide health care for all their residents. How H.R. 6270 moves us toward health care that is universal, simple, and affordable (USA): Mandates that participating states guarantee healthcare coverage for at least 95% of residents in the first 5 years, thus reducing the uninsured and underinsured populations to less than 5% (currently 30% in most states). Requires any state-based plan to have benefits equal to or greater than those received by beneficiaries of federal healthcare programs. Allows states to cooperate on multi-state plans. Section 1332 of the ACA does not. Enables states to integrate Medicare funds into a state plan. Section 1332 does not. This is critically important for equity. Please work to pass this bill, and then get to work passing Medicare For All. Nothing else will fully solve our healthcare crisis.

▶ Created on April 8 by Jess Craven

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Nerdfighteria is doing some GREAT WORK on the fighting worldsuck front right now and I'm so, so, down for this fight but unfortunately my own health has taken a bit of a setback especially in the mental health department so I don't really trust myself to join the social media fight because I don't want to trigger myself (psychosis is a hell of a thing to be recovering from) but I am cheering all nerdfighters, especially John himself, on.

Get 'em.

you have to go to work so you can pay for your doctor, who is not taking your insurance right now, and if you say i can't afford the doctor's you are told - get a better job. it is very sad that you are unwell, yes, but maybe you should have thought about that before not having a better job.

(where is the better job? who is giving out these better jobs? you are sick, you are hurting - how the hell are you supposed to be well enough for this better job?)

but you go to the doctor because you had the nerve to be hurt or sick or whatever else. and they tell you that it is because you have anxiety. you try your best. you are a self-advocate. you've done the reading (which sometimes pisses them off worse, honestly). you say it is actually adding to my anxiety, it is effecting my quality of life. so they say that you are fat. they say that all young people have this happen to them, isn't it a medical marvel! they say that you should eat more vegetables. they say that you probably just need to lose a little more weight, and that you are faking it for attention.

(what attention could this doctor possibly give? what validation? that's their fucking job, isn't it?)

there is always a hypochondriac, right. someone always tells you about a hypochondriac. or someone who is unnecessarily aggressive during the worst days of their life. or someone looking "for a quick fix". or some idiot who wasn't educated about how to properly care for themselves who just abandons their treatment. and again, the hypochondriac, the overly-cautious hysteric. these people don't deserve to be treated like humans (right), and since you might be one of these people, you also don't get treated like a human. because those people can really fuck with the system, you now have to pay for it. and besides. you're actually probably faking it.

(more often than not, you find a 2:1 ratio of these stories. for every "hypochondriac", there are 2 people who knew something was wrong, and yet nobody could fucking find it. the story often ends with pointless suffering. the story often ends with and now it's too late, and it's going to kill me.)

you are actually just making excuses. someone else got that procedure or that diagnosis and he's fine, you should be fine too. someone else said they watched a documentary about other inspirational people with your exact same condition, maybe you should be inspirational, too. you're just too morbid. your pain and your experience is probably just not statistically concerning. it is all self-reported anyway, and you're just being a baby.

(once, while sitting down in the middle of making coffee, you had the sudden, horrible thought - i could kill myself to make the pain stop. you had to call your best friend after that. had to pet your dog. had to cry about it in the shower. you won't, but that moment - god, fuck. the pain just goes on and on.)

you know someone who went in for routine surgery and said i still feel everything. they told her to just relax. it took her kicking and screaming before they figured out she wasn't lying - the anesthetic drip hadn't been working. you know someone who went in for severe migraines who was told drink water and lose weight. you know someone who was actively bleeding out and throwing up in the ER and was told you're just having a bad period.

in the ER there are always these little posters saying things like "don't wait! get checked today!" and you think about how often you do wait. how often the days spool out. you once waited a full week before seeing the doctor for what you thought was a sprained wrist. it had actually been broken - they had to rebreak it to set it.

but you go into the doctor. the problem you're having is immediate. the person behind the counter frowns and says we're not taking your insurance. you will be paying for this out-of-pocket.

they send you home with tylenol and a little health packet about weight loss or anxiety or attention deficit. on the front it has your birthday and diagnosis. you think about crying, and the words swim. it might as well say go fuck yourself. it might as well say you're a fucking idiot. it might as well say light your money on fire and lie down in it. and the entire fucking time - the problem persists.

it's okay. it's okay, it's just another thing, you think. it's just another thing i have to learn to live with.

the onion going hard in its landing page layout again...

i felt this in my soul:

Am I a radical because I think people should be paid fairly? Am I a radical because I think Heathcare is a right ? Am I a radical because I think the unhoused are from a failure by the state to provide them housing and support?

Am I a radical because I think all people should be treated equally?

Am I a radical because I realize equality don't mean the same thing for everyone, it means giving people what they need to be on the same level?

Am I a radical because I think that food and drink are a right?

Am I a radical because I want peace?

Am I a radical because jobs should be what you love, not what you are forced to do?

Am I a radical because I think colonization is bad?

Am I a radical because I don't ignore the benefits I have had from being a White, Straight, Male?

Am I a radical because I don't ignore the benefit I have the totalitarian policies of the US in relation to the world?

Am I a radical for speaking up against the horrors of capitalism?

Am I a radical for thinking that a single country should not determine the worlds safety?

Am I a radical for think war is bad?

Am I a radical for thinking civilians shouldn't be killed?

If that's what defines a radical, then that's what I am. And I'm proud to be one.

Thinking about how being fat means you're denied a very large portion of what's considered a normal (and healthy) part of the human experience.

another year, still drawing people doing things to each other. you might or might not know this but i started working as a doctor this year and i'm happy/proud it hasn't kept me from still drawing my silly little fictional guys. it's not much but it's honest work.

thank you to everyone who's liking, reblogging and commenting on my art! it means everything to me <3

The survey closes on the 26th of November

(Link to survey taken from TENI’s insta page - here)

TENI say:

We are conducting research into the experiences of trans people in healthcare settings.

This project addresses the lack of awareness on denial and mistreatment frequently occurring in medical settings and will provide robust data on the extent and scope of the institutional violence trans and non-binary people face when seeking gender-affirming or general medical care. Please complete the survey at the link in our bio by 26th November!

im still thinking about this one guy in my medical anthropology elective idk why his comment pissed me off so much but i haven't been able to get it off my mind.

we were having a general discussion about the intersection between healthcare and politics, who gets to be sick, who gets to be treated and who will never be either and this guy said something like "disease affects people regardless of their socioeconomic status. covid didn't exclude the rich for example" ... how can u be this fucking obtuse as a young adult i don't get it

Abortion is healthcare! Pass the Women’s health Protection Act NOW!

AN OPEN LETTER to THE U.S. CONGRESS

1,391 so far! Help us get to 2,000 signers!

Today the Supreme Court heard arguments in Idaho v. the United States, a case about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act. There is a real possibility that right-wing justices on the court will rule that pregnant people aren’t entitled to emergency care that may involve an abortion unless they’re at death’s door.

We have already seen that even with EMTALA in place emergency rooms in abortion ban states are turning pregnant people away with alarming frequency, and with catastrophic results. This is utterly sickening, and if SCOTUS rules for the state of Idaho it’ll get much worse. Congress needs to pass S. 701 / HR 12 the Women’s health Protection Act now.

Abortion care is a top issue for me. I am desperately concerned about the rollback of rights we’re seeing. Women and other pregnant people are going to suffer and even die if our rights aren’t restored. Do something. Thanks.

▶ Created on April 24 by Jess Craven · 1,393 signers in the past 7 days

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s/o to everyone who works in the american healthcare system. that would literally be my villain origin story

People will tell you that wanting everyone to have food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, clean water, and education is a radical political stance, but to me, it is a desire borne out of being a caring, compassionate person who wants to end human suffering.

Wanting to make sure everyone's needs are taken care of is radical only in an individualistic society that worships at the alter of personal responsibility and judges whether people are worthy of having their needs met in the courtroom of meritocracy.

The UK government is right now trying to ban trans women from using the same HOSPITAL WARDS as cis women, in the middle of a healthcare crisis where all wards are overstuffed and understaffed.

What the actual FUCK???

The health minister is on record saying it's only "wokery" that has led to trans and cis women (AND men!) to be allowed to use the same spaces IN THE HOSPITAL so far. (For context, his political party has been in power for the last 13 years... so would have overseen or been happy with that happening for this duration anyway... yet suddenly NOW it is a problem???)

I can't believe this is real life.

The restrictions on trans healthcare make absolutly zero sense to me at all. People should be able to do whatever the fuck they want with their own bodies. End of story. I'd ask why these bunk, GCSE level studies are getting held up as doctrine but I know why, you know why. It's to restrict what people can do with their own fucking bodies.