For Quinn Nystrom, and millions of other Americans living with Type 1 Diabetes, insulin affordability is a “real crisis issue.”
So Nystrom took it upon herself to find a temporary solution. Last week, she and seven others organized a four-car “caravan” from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to drive 600 miles across the border to Fort Francis, Ontario, in Canada to purchase the life-saving insulin they all needed.
“It was a black and white difference,” Nystrom told ThinkProgress of her...
health care
Transgender Iowans are worried they’ll lose transition-related care under new bill
Iowa is one signature away from enacting a law that would limit transgender people’s access to necessary health care.
The law would allow government entities to opt out of using public insurance dollars, including Medicaid, to pay for any kind of transition-related care. This language was tacked on as an amendment to a health and human services appropriations bill late in the process, LGBTQ rights advocates said, without any committee hearings or public comment process. Lawmak...
Trump administration finalizes ‘conscience’ rule affecting transgender people’s health care
The Trump administration finalized a new rule enabling the discrimination of transgender people in health care on Thursday.
The rule essentially allows health care workers to refer to religious or moral objections when they don’t want to deliver health care services, which would also affect access to abortion and contraception.
The so-called “conscience rule” would revise existing regulations to “ensure vigorous enforcement of Federal conscience and an...
Ady Barkan makes a moral case for single payer at first-ever Medicare for All hearing
At the first-ever congressional hearing dedicated to Medicare for All on Tuesday, activist Ady Barkan underscored the urgent need to change our health care system right now.
As he told members of the House Rules Committee, Barkan would rather have been at home with his wife and son instead of making the case for Medicare for All. The renowned organizer is dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
“Every day is precious for me. I don’t have time on my side,...
GOP congressman says Republicans totally would have fixed health care if they’d kept their majority
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OH), who chaired the powerful House Committee on Energy and Commerce until the 2018 blue wave cost his party its control of Congress, went on Fox News Tuesday to denounce Medicare for All and other proposals to create a single-payer system for health care. Asked about his party’s lack of an alternative, he suggested that they would have had one had they kept their majority.
Walden has been in Congress for just over 20 years. His party held the majority for ...
Every Democrat running for president supports abortion rights, but is that enough?
Every Democrat running for president supports abortion rights.
“Every woman deserves safe, affordable access to comprehensive reproductive health care — including abortion,” is a quote that could have come from any one of the 20 candidates vying for the Democratic presidential nomination and the opportunity to unseat President Donald Trump. This statement just happens to come from Sen. Kamala Harris (CA).
But given the record-high support for Roe v. Wade ...
‘Somebody should do something’: Oklahomans try to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in 2020
Kelly Smalley lost her health insurance over a year ago when her son turned 19 years old.
In order to qualify for Medicaid in Oklahoma, people need to be a parent or guardian to someone no older than 18, have a government-recognized disability, or be over 65 years old in addition to earning below the federal poverty level. Smalley, who’s a 47-year-old single mom, is still responsible for her son; he was born with spina bifida and is routinely in and out of the hospital. She al...
Senate GOP campaign committee smears Democratic 2020 candidates with false billboards
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the campaign arm of the Senate Republicans, has launched a series of billboards attacking several Democratic candidates over their supposed support for Medicare for All.
Not all of the Democrats who are being targeted actually support Medicare for All, and some have explicitly opposed the idea.
One such billboard, appearing alongside Interstate 10 in Tolleson, Arizona, suggests that Democratic candidate Mark Kelly — a retir...