Make a Difference
HEALTH CARE
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
Key policies
Universal healthcare
Increase funding for mental health
Increase access to addiction specialists to solve the opioid crisis
Address the socio-economic nutritional disparity
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The Details:
Affordable Care Act → Quality Universal Healthcare
Single-payer healthcare
Let’s focus on healthy Americans—not big business profits
Universal healthcare will…
Reduce costs as people will no longer have to go to the emergency room for health care
Bolster the economy by increasing the number of medical professionals
Reduce costs through early diagnoses
Improve patient-doctor relationships
Reduce medication costs as only one provider will negotiate the prices
Let’s cover preventable healthcare, including colonoscopies, mammograms, cholesterol-screening
Prohibit insurance companies from denying people with pre-existing conditions
Reduce costs by preventing complications and emergency room visits.
Increase taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, and gambling
Not only will this reduce destructive behavior, but this revenue will contribute to universal healthcare
Mental Health
Increase support for and access to community mental health care centers
Treat mental health as a medical condition, not as a separate entity to reduce stigma and increase treatment of mental illness
Increase access to inpatient mental health treatment
De-escalation training
Let’s train emergency responders to respond appropriately to mentally ill Americans, channeling these Americans to treatment instead of prison
Opioid Crisis
Addiction isn’t a crime; it’s an illness
Increase access to addiction specialists as part of universal healthcare
Discontinue the D.A.R.E. program in schools
D.A.R.E. participants are 29% more likely to experiment with drugs than non-participants
Train doctors to use non-addictive first-line pain medications
Encourage pharmaceutical companies to provide less-addictive pain medication
Address social-dislocation in rural and urban communities
Nutrition
Address the socio-economic nutritional disparity
Expand healthy opportunities in inner-cities
Provide tax breaks for healthy businesses
Provide healthy alternatives in school lunches