Healthcare needs to be public, free, non-discriminatory, available regardless of job or immigration status, and equitable. The need for health care goes far beyond COVID. However, right now, we are very much so still in the midst of a global pandemic. Cases are on the rise as a “second wave” looms, with Friday reporting the highest number of cases in nearly two months. Within the past week, the President was one of over 300,000 positive COVID-19 cases in the US. While a lot of media attention has focused on Trump, there are still thousands of people dying from the virus every week.
What is different about Trump’s COVID case is that he was tested daily, hospitalized immediately, and administered experimental treatment. All of which was fully government funded; not a dollar came out of Trump’s pocket. He was also allowed to return to the White House against medical professionals’ advice, and despite the fact that nearly 20 individuals in his orbit have already tested positive for the virus. The Presidents response to COVID via twitter was “don’t be afraid of COVID.” Such a response is insensitive, elitist, classist, and blind. I am sure that if everyone was able to receive the intensity and urgency of care that Trump received, the virus would not be as scary as it is.
That’s where health care comes in. And, just to be clear, I am no expert on health care. The Affordable Care Act (also known as ACA or Obamacare) of 2010 is no magic solution, but it has been a step in the right direction. However, the current Supreme Court case that would overturn the ACA will leave tens of millions of people without access to health care. Trump has made no plan to replace the national healthcare plan he is so adamant to end.
Among the health care services that the Trump administration hopes to defund is Planned Parenthood. This conservative battle against abortion rights ignores the multitude of health care services offered by Planned Parenthood, such as access to contraceptives, STI/STD testing, cancer screening and prevention, pregnancy and prenatal services, education, and advocacy, in addition to abortion services. For many people, specifically low-income folks and women of color, Planned Parenthood is the only place where such care is offered, and, prior to the Trump administration, was affordable or free.
The cost of public health care is often in question. The US military budget is absurd. Over $600 billion is spent yearly on national defense, which is 3.5% of the GDP (gross domestic product, or full monetary value earned in the US each year). Cutting military spending by 1.5% could reallocate $300 billion a year to services such as public healthcare. This redistribution could provide healthcare services to the 29 million Americans without insurance, without posing a threat to national security.
Furthermore, the history of healthcare in the US is riddled with racial, gender-based and socioeconomic discrimination. For example, Black Americans are twice as likely to die from COVID as white Americans, with Indigenous, Pacific Islander and Latinx folks also 30-60% more likely than white folks to die from COVID. And this too goes far beyond COVID: environmental racism and health conditions, as well as racism and medical professionals doubting self-reports from Black patients, and the longstanding racist medical beliefs that Black people’s physiology differs from white people (this is still taught in medical schools today). This medical racism is an adjunct of the rampant systemic racism in this country.
In addition to racial discrimination, gender-based discrimination is also a vast issue in healthcare. For women, trans women, all trans folks, nonbinary folks, intersex folks, and those beyond the gender binary, there are additional barriers to receiving health care. More than 50% of LGBTQIA+ people experience health care discrimination, due to denial of service, lack of provider knowledge, discomfort, less access to insurance, medical professional bias, and laws on the state and national level. Medical education must advance beyond an understanding of white cis men’s anatomy and physiology. A common example is that there are different symptoms of heart attacks depending on the individual’s sex. Additionally, when women/LGBTQIA+ folks are treated (for heart attacks or otherwise), medical professionals often minimize, normalize, or disbelieve their reports, often providing less advice and treatment. Oftentimes, they are told that their symptoms are due to psychological ailments rather than physical ones. This dismissal of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, women and LGBTQIA+ individuals in medical care is detrimental, and non-discriminatory health care must be prioritized.
Access to affordable, public, and non-discriminatory health care is a human right, and it is on the ballot this November. Remember: friends don’t let friends not vote.