[1]NNU - Medicare for All!



Today marks the beginning of Black History Month. As we reflect on the
history, contributions, and culture of the Black community, we’re planning
a series of emails over the course of February to examine the racial
disparities in our current, profit-driven health care system — and how we
can address them through Medicare for All.

Health and health care aren’t one-size-fits-all, and all too often, Black
patients in the United States experience disparities in health insurance,
treatment, and outcomes. As the Kaiser Family Foundation points out,
“these disparities have been exacerbated by the uneven impacts of the
COVID-pandemic, ongoing racism and discrimination, and police violence
against and killings of Black people.”^1

Studies show the uninsured rate for nonelderly people, the percent of
nonelderly adults who didn’t see a doctor due to cost, and the likelihood
of experiencing a family income below poverty, food insecurity, or being
treated unfairly while getting health care are all higher for Black people
than white people in the U.S.^1

This contributes to worse health outcomes, including lower life
expectancy, higher risk of hospitalization and death due to COVID-19,
higher rate of cancer deaths, and higher maternal and infant mortality
rates for Black patients compared to white patients.^1

A new study on the growth of employer-sponsored health insurance premium
costs and its association with wage inequality published this January also
shows that in all 32 years of this study, health care premiums as a
percentage of compensation were significantly higher for non-Hispanic
Black and Hispanic families than for non-Hispanic White families.^2

While we are all negatively impacted by our broken health care system,
it’s clear that the Black community faces a disproportionate amount of
harm. It’s a key reason why we need to establish a single-payer health
care system that guarantees health care with justice and equity for all.

Stay tuned for the first email in our Black History Month series next week
as we discuss how Medicare for All would directly address these historic
inequities and how we can work together to transform our health care
system.

In solidarity,

Nurses' Campaign to Win Medicare for All 

 

Sources:

1. “How Recognizing Health Disparities for Black People is Important for
Change,” KFF, February 13, 2023
[ [link removed] ][link removed]

2. “Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Premium Cost Growth and Its
Association With Earnings Inequality Among US Families,” Kurt Hager, PhD,
Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, and Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, JAMA Network, January
16, 2024
[ [link removed] ][link removed]



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