We all deserve a health care system that works for all of us.
Maternal mortality in the United States is 32 deaths per 100,000 live births. It is 26 for white women and 69.9 for Black. The average for states that ban abortion is 47.5. The average for states that allow abortion is 21.2. The worst states are Mississippi 82, Louisiana 61, Alabama 57. We are far higher than any of our 35 industrialized peer nations. Syria is at 30.
Copays and deductibles keep people from going to the doctor, individual states denying Medicaid to those that deserve it (four million and counting) are a disgrace and an insult to all of us.
Women who are not heard by their doctors and treated by 40 percent of the country as second-class citizens are a disgrace. Rural health care that is so sparse for 20 percent of Americans that they have to travel for hours to see a doctor is just shameful.
Three bills in Congress fix this. They are H.R. 3421, improved Medicare for All; the Black Momnibus bill for social determinants of health; and the Women’s Health Protection Act. Tell our congressperson and senators to get to work.
