Last month, I experienced the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. It hurt to walk, to lie down, and even to breathe. The pain increased over time, and after hours of discomfort, nausea, and fatigue, I finally called a Lyft to get to the closest hospital. (I didn't even want to think about how much an ambulance may cost.) After some blood tests and an MRI, I was rushed into surgery to have my appendix removed.
Andrew, just when I thought that scary moment was over, I opened up the mail to find a hospital bill of over $2,000. As I look back on it, while I am thankful I listened to my body and didn't chalk my pain up to a stomachache, as a person with health insurance, I didn't think that this envelope would hold this high bill.
Apparently, I went to a hospital that was "out of network," which meant I was still responsible for covering a portion of *emergency surgery* despite my insurance. Make it make sense! I HAD to go to the closest hospital for what could've been a fatal health issue.
But in America, a reduced hospital bill does "make sense." But like myself and so many others know, the situation could have been much worse. What if I didn't have insurance? Well, it's easy for me to imagine because I didn't have insurance growing up. It was too expensive, and my parents didn't have jobs that offered coverage.
My story isn't unique. My family, very similar to other Black families, had to use the emergency room as our healthcare plan because we could not afford insurance. And even when we are able to have some form of health insurance, we experience these expensive "gotcha" moments produced by our sham and discriminatory medical system.
That's why at Black Lives Matter, we've always advocated for legislation like Medicare for All. Medicare for All is an important step toward creating a more equitable and fair system -- so that whether you live in the suburbs in Maryland, or in East Elmhurst, Queens, a predominantly Black neighborhood in New York City, or in a rural, small town in Alabama, you will be guaranteed quality, affordable health care.
If you believe that healthcare is a human right, sign the petition to Congress demanding that they make passing Medicare for All a top priority for 2024. When we talk about ending state-sanctioned violence, people tend to only think about police brutality. In reality, it refers to all forms of harm produced, promoted, and/or institutionalized by the state to the detriment of Black people, our families, and communities. This includes ending the health neglect of Black people.
The participation of the state in the disregard for Black people's health isn't difficult to understand. We see it in the failure to provide adequate, affordable, and culturally competent medical care. We see it in the continued and disproportionate exposure of Black people to toxic substances in the environment. We have seen it in the exploitation of Black women's bodies for the development of knowledge and technologies, like the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks' cells.
Here's what it looks like in the United States:
- Black folks in particular, are more likely to be uninsured – they're more likely to live in states with high numbers of folks, lower-quality health care, higher maternal mortality rates, higher rates of all cancers and heart disease, and particularly a higher mortality rate from cancers and heart disease.
- 1 in 3 Black adults have past due medical bills compared to fewer than one in four white adults, and 27.9 percent of Black households carry medical debt compared to 17.2 percent of white households. How did that happen? There is an explicit correlation between Jim Crow-era segregation in health care and where we see this debt concentrated.
- Racial and ethnic inequities in coverage and access to care are persisting, especially in states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid.
And if that isn't clear enough, the coronavirus pandemic shined a bright light on the racial inequities that exist within the healthcare system. The pandemic of systemic racism has long thrived in health care. Racism itself continues to be a public health crisis. If you believe in the human right of equitable, affordable, and quality health care -- sign the petition in support of Medicare for All. In love and solidarity,
Shalomyah Bowers
Board Member
Black Lives Matter
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