Our Time Is Now: Power: on Health Care


Ayanna Pressley: Healthy MOMMIES Act: expand Medicaid

From the most local to the highest federal offices, candidates are expected to reflect the melange that is America. During 2018, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Representative Pressley [both] defeated ten-term Democratic incumbents. Pressley campaigned on a platform of being more responsive to the increasingly diverse legislative district.

New congressional leaders have each made their mark by advocating for legislative issues that propelled them to victory. For representative Cortez, her promotion of the Green New Deal capitulated the resolution into national discourse. Representative Pressley, who ran on a platform of expanded access for the poor and minorities, has introduced legislation, known as The Healthy Mommies Act, to expand Medicaid coverage in an attempt to provide comprehensive parental, labor and post-partum care with an extension of existing medical pregnancy funding and tackle maternity morality, which kills black women at a rate three times higher than white women.

Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p.145-6 Jun 9, 2020

Donald Trump: Dismantled global health security system before coronavirus

In 2018, Trump effectively dismantled the Obama-era global health insurance system. The objective--to understand how viruses move beyond borders and to prepare a communications and response strategy for transitional health crises-- had its genesis in the nation's multilateral engagement in the Ebola virus. Swift, worldwide action had not only accelerated treatments to countries facing infection, it slowed transmission to other nations, including the United States. Trump's shortsighted decision, while devastating in this current crisis, should galvanize restoration of the global health security system and prompt a deeper thinking of what constitutes genuine national security threats. COVID-19 demands immediate response to defeat an intercontinental enemy to our health, our economies and our future
Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p.259-60 Jun 9, 2020

Nathan Deal: Objected to ObamaCare navigators, due to additional cost

As a part of the [ObamaCare] rollout, states received generous allocations of dollars to fund the navigators, trained personnel deployed to neighborhoods to explain how to traverse the complex systems of health insurance that would now require mandatory compliance.

With one of the most restrictive policies in the nation, those of us who had been agitating for better policy cheered when the Affordable Care Act plans included coverage for the working poor through the Medicaid expansion program. Then the state took a step few of us anticipated: it joined with a handful of states to make becoming a navigator nearly impossible beyond the limited federal program by imposing additional cost and licensure requirements few could meet. Despite the states' animosity to The Affordable Care Act, I had not imagined [Governor Deal] would also object to educating citizens about a way to gain health insurance and possibly save their lives.

Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p. 46-7 Jun 9, 2020

Stacey Abrams: ObamaCare navigators explain new health insurance systems

As a part of the [ObamaCare] rollout, states received generous allocations of dollars to fund the navigators, trained personnel deployed to neighborhoods to explain how to traverse the complex systems of health insurance that would now require mandatory compliance. In Georgia, the issue was particularly acute: the state had one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation. Every state participates in Medicaid, the low income health program that shares costs between the states and the federal government. Because the program is mainly run by the states, qualification differs depending on where you live. In Georgia, Medicaid does not cover childless, low income adults, regardless of their poverty level, and it only covers working parents who make less than 50% of the federal poverty level or approximately 9765 a year for a family of three in 2013. We cheered when the Affordable Care Act plans included coverage for the working poor through the Medicaid expansion program.
Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p. 46-7 Jun 9, 2020

Stacey Abrams: Disaster preparedness includes global pandemic preparation

We should press candidates on their commitment to the urgent issue of true disaster preparedness. That requires a plan to strengthen public health systems in every state and vulnerable community. To do so requires a consistent, appropriate funding stream that is not subject to ideological whims or propaganda. Our international obligations should be central to this renaissance.

In 2018, Trump effectively dismantled the Obama-era global health insurance system. The objective--to understand how viruses move beyond borders and to prepare a communications and response strategy for transitional health crises--had its genesis in the nation's multilateral engagement in the Ebola virus. Swift, worldwide action had not only accelerated treatments to countries facing infection, it slowed transmission to other nations, including the United States.

COVID-19 demands immediate response to defeat an intercontinental enemy to our health, our economies and our futures.

Source: Our Time Is Now, by Stacey Abrams, p.259-60 Jun 9, 2020

  • The above quotations are from Our Time Is Now
    Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America
    by Stacey Abrams    .
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Stacey Abrams on Health Care.
2020 Presidential contenders on Health Care:
  Democrats running for President:
Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO)
V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE)
Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC)
Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT)
Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Rep.John Delaney (D-MD)
Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)
Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA)
Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Marianne Williamson (D-CA)
CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY)

2020 Third Party Candidates:
Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI)
CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV)
Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI)
Howie Hawkins (G-NY)
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Howard Schultz(I-WA)
Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN) 		Republicans running for President:
Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX)
Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD)
Gov.John Kasich(R-OH)
V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN)
Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC)
Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY)
Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL)
Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY)

2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:
Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA)
Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC)
Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA)
Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO)
Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA)
Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL)
Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA)
Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX)
Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA)
Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA)
Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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Page last updated: Oct 09, 2021