Racial Justice and Universal Health Care
“We have a long way to go to eliminate the racial inequities in health care. But a necessary first step is comprehensive coverage for everybody in the U.S., regardless of income, employment, or age. The only way to achieve that is with single-payer Medicare for All, which provides lifelong coverage for all medically necessary care, free choice of doctor and hospital, and funding of hospitals based on community needs, not profit.”
–Dr. Susan Rogers, Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP)
The history of health care in the United States, and our decades-long quest for universal health care, are inextricably linked with racial justice. This February we explore where we are, where we’ve been, and how we can support racial justice and equity in the movement for universal health care.
Call to Action: Protect Medicare
Improved Medicare for All is one way to reach our goal of health care for everyone in Maine—Everybody In, Nobody Out. But efforts to privatize original Medicare, including through ACO REACH, threaten the existence of this popular, publicly funded, not-for-profit, single-payer system.
Physicians for a National Health Program is campaigning hard to stop REACH, which went into effect in January. Join this fight by taking a selfie with one of the following signs and sending it to lori@pnhp.org and news@maineallcare.org. Thank you!
Sign for Activist: https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2023/01/REACHPhotoPetition_We002.pdf
Sign for Students: https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2023/01/REACHPhotoPetition_Students002.pdf
Sign for Seniors: https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2023/01/REACHPhotoPetition_Seniors002.pdf
Sign for Patients: https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2023/01/REACHPhotoPetition_Patients002.pdf
Sign for Doctors: https://pnhp.org/system/assets/uploads/2023/01/REACHPhotoPetition_Doctors002.pdf
Maine AllCare News
HealthCare for All Maine, the political and advocacy arm of Maine AllCare, is holding a series of Lunch & Learns with Maine legislators this winter focused on “Improving Health Care in Maine: What Can We Do?” Learn more on the HCAM website.
Events
Black History Month: In Pursuit of Black Justice
February 28 at 8 pm EST
Via Zoom
This program features Drs. Claudia Fegan and Susan Rogers of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), and Drs. Victoria Dooley and Cortez Johnson of the Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine discussing the intersection of racial and economic equity and universal health care, segregation in our health care system, and the ACO REACH Program.
Hosted by Students for a National Health Program (SNaHP). For more information, contact Lori at PNHP.
Join the Zoom meeting here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85875029567?pwd=SUNjWThXT0JsdnB6WThzeTNXT2dTZz09
Screening of the film “Power to Heal” followed by discussion
February 28 at 8:30 pm EST
Via Zoom
This powerful documentary shows us how activists and politicians of the day harnessed the power of the Civil Rights Amendment and the promise of Medicare dollars to finally desegregate US Hospitals.
Hosted by Whole Washington. For more info and to register: https://wholewashington.org/event/in-honor-of-black-history-month-power-to-heal/
Racial justice and Medicare For All training
March 9, 4–5 pm EST
Online
Offered by Healthcare NOW
Learn how racism has shaped our for-profit healthcare system and how Medicare for All could be a significant step toward racial justice.
For more info and to register:
https://www.healthcare-now.org/trainings/
Remembrances
In 2022 we lost two long-time health care activists, Bonnie Preston of Penobscot and Jean Sawyer of Brunswick. We’re thankful for their dedication and to have known and worked alongside them. They will both be missed.
Bonnie was a long-time volunteer with Maine AllCare’s Downeast chapter as well as many other movements to nurture democracy, people, communities, and the planet. She was a bright light, tenacious, joyful, and funny.
Jean was a long-time Maine AllCare supporter and volunteer with the Midcoast chapter. An obituary in the Portland Press Herald notes that she “sought to improve life for all through her work with Maine AllCare.”
Support Our Work
Turn your bottles and cans into universal health care!
Clynk is a simple way to support Maine AllCare’s work—just fill up a Clynk bag with your returnable bottles and cans, put on a MAC sticker, and drop them off at a nearby Hannaford store.
Clynk bags are available at participating Hannaford stores for a small fee. To get MAC stickers, contact us and we’ll put them in the mail to you.
Thank you to all who are participating! You have recycled more than 30,000 containers—enough to fill 308 lobster traps!—and raised more than $1,400.
Have you gotten your Maine AllCare bumper sticker?
Contact us to request yours!
Are you already sporting a sticker?
Send us a photo! We love to see the message spreading far and wide.
Last word
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Thank You for Your Support
Your donation is tax deductible under Section 501(c)3 of the IRS code, to the full extent allowed by law.
Maine AllCare promotes the establishment of publicly funded health care coverage for all Maine residents. This system must be efficient, financially sound, politically sustainable and must provide benefits fairly distributed to all. Maine AllCare advocates that health care, a basic necessity, be treated as a public good, since it is fundamental to our well-being as individuals and as a democratic nation.
Maine AllCare is a chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.
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