Our Charter and Platform 2020 Kitchen Table Talks

Kitchen Table Topics - Healthcare

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Democrats Abroad wants to know what issues matter to you as a Democrat living abroad. Your input can help shape DA’s 2020 Platform. Run a Kitchen Table Talk - information here - and make your voice heard! Topics on Healthcare included below (scroll for the full list).  Add your own through the Kitchen Table Talk New Topic form. 

Universal Healthcare Legislation

Do you support Medicare for All or similar legislation that provides universal health care to all US citizens?

BACKGROUND

  • The United States spends more per capita on healthcare and has worse health outcomes than any other developed nation on earth; 
  • Two-thirds of all the bankruptcies today in the United States are due to medical costs and 80% of those filing for bankruptcy had some kind of health insurance; One-third of all GoFundMe campaigns in the US are created to pay for medical expenses, a stunning 250,000 campaigns; 
  • Americans abroad can become ‘healthcare refugees or exiles’ unable to return to live in the US due to pre-existing conditions that make them or their family members ‘un-insurable’ or too expensive to insure in the US; 
  • Medicare is not currently portable to Americans living abroad, which creates a hardship for Americans whose health is endangered by living in countries with inadequate healthcare systems and who cannot afford to live in the US and cannot afford to travel to the US for health care; 
  • The Affordable Care Act (ACA or “Obamacare”) made vastly significant progress towards improving Americans’ access to health care and has led to improved health outcomes but has been weakened and threatened by partisan attacks and increasing insurance premiums;
  • Universal health care would significantly help relieve financial hardship among the most marginalized and minority groups.

REFERENCES

Reproductive Health Rights

Do you support reproductive health, rights and justice for all citizens including universal and affordable access to good quality family planning, fertility assistance, safe abortion, STD prevention, diagnosis and treatment, prenatal care, safe delivery services, postnatal care, paid family leave, early childhood development and subsidized child care?

BACKGROUND

  • The decision if, when or how to have children is a fundamentally personal decision;
  • Access to respectful, high-quality, holistic pregnancy-related health services leads to better health outcomes for both pregnant persons and children;
  • Many low income people, people of color, transgender and nonbinary people, and people living in rural areas face disproportionate barriers in accessing family planning and abortion;
  • Young people cannot meaningfully determine their destiny when parental consent and notification is required for sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion;
  • Those who are most impacted by reproductive health policies are those who often have the least ability to navigate systemic barriers;
  • The Trump Administration has endangered the settlement and legacy of Roe V Wade by appointing anti-choice judges, thus emboldening a nation-wide legislative challenge to the once settled issue of abortion rights;
  • LGBT sexuality has historically been excluded from important health related discussions, especially sexual education discussions;
  • LGBT people are habitually denied access to reproductive technologies, and infertility treatment centers facilities can and do deny LGBT couples assistance;
  • LGBT people, including cisgender women, transgender men, two-spirit, intersex and gender non-conforming individuals, can get pregnant and require access to reproductive heath care, including abortion;
  • Youth bear a disproportionate burden of new HIV/AIDS infections;
  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final rule will allow healthcare entities and workers to refuse to do anything for patients that goes against their religious or moral beliefs -- most significantly impacting LGBTQ people seeking access to reproductive health services, such as abortion, contraception, and gender-affirming care.

REFERENCES

  • Blueprint for Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights and Justice. July, 2019: https://reproblueprint.org/ 
  • National Advocates for Pregnant Women: Pregnancy, Childbirth and parenting: http://advocatesforpregnantwomen.org/issues/pregnancy_childbirth_and_parenting/ 
  • LGBT Fact sheet: https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/final_lgbt_fact_sheet_0.pdf 
  • Sexual health behaviors: http://www.actforyouth.net/sexual_health/behaviors/hiv.cfm 
  • Queering Reproductive Justice: a toolkit: https://www.thetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Queering-Reproductive-Justice-A-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf. 
  • “Trump Administration Final Healthcare “Conscience” Rule - Frequently Asked Questions”:https://www.thetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Final-Healthcare-Conscience-Rule-FAQ.pdf