FEDERAL:
Demand That Your Lawmaker Prioritize a Coronavirus People's Bailout:
[From Indivisible National] Congress has now passed three coronavirus-related response bills. While these bills have temporarily filled in important gaps in our paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, and health care systems, they are grossly insufficient given the magnitude of the current crisis. What’s worse, in return for helping people who are desperately in need of support, Trump and his Republican allies demanded hundreds of billions of dollars in unaccountable corporate bailouts.
This crisis isn’t over and soon Congress will likely have to pass at least one additional response package. We need to continue demanding that any coronavirus response legislation puts people’s needs ahead of corporate profits — in other words, we need a People’s Bailout. Congress must fix the gaps in the previous bills, and make sure that the response to both the outbreak and the likely recession that will accompany it make both less likely to happen in the future. Specifically, we’re asking that Congress:
Protect our democratic processes while protecting each other.
Make health the top priority, for all people, with no exceptions.
Provide economic relief directly to the people.
Rescue workers and communities, not corporate executives.
Make a down payment on a regenerative economy, while preventing future crises.
If you go to the action link below, there is an entire toolkit you can use to contact your reps, post videos to social media, or even write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. I’m hearing from so many people who are either dealing with the coronavirus or dealing with the economic impact of it. This is a true crisis, and we need to make our voices heard to ensure that real people get the economic relief they need.
Details:
https://peopleoverprofits.indivisible.org/
Script:
Hello, I am a constituent from zip code ___________ calling to urge Rep./Sen. ___________ to support a true coronavirus relief package. We need to make sure that any new legislation provides economic relief directly to the people, not to corporations. We also need the government to protect our elections and make sure that no matter what happens with the coronavirus that all voters are able to cast their ballots in November. Thank you.
-----------
STATE:
Allow Nurse Practitioners to Practice without a Collaborating MD:
Nurse practitioners are not allowed to maintain their own practice in North Carolina without registering with a collaborating physician. This places severe limits on NPs who are board certified. In most states, this rule has been eliminated. And during a time in which we are facing a medical emergency, we need more qualified medical providers to be able to practice without archaic limitations. This is actually a nonpartisan issue. The link below is from a conservative think tank, but it shows clearly that we need to update our laws regarding NPs. The bill is called the SAVE Act, and it is a simple, potentially bipartisan fix, that could improve our response to COVID-19.
Details:
https://www.johnlocke.org/update/save-act-increasing-freedom-for-n-c-nurses/
Tweet:
.@NC_Governor drop the outdated Nurse Practice Act rule that forces NPs in NC to have collaborating MD in order to practice. We are board certified providers that could volunteer in this crisis in our full capacity if you do this now #NursePractitioner #COVID19
Script:
Hello, I am a constituent from ____________ calling to urge Rep./Sen./Gov. ___________ to support the SAVE Act. This bill would remove the requirement that nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives have a collaborative practice agreement to treat patients. North Carolina is one of 12 states that restrict the practice authority of nurse practitioners and certified nurse midwives unless they obtain a collaborative practice agreement with a supervising physician. And in a time when we face an approaching medical crisis, we need all of the qualified medical providers to be able to work independently without any archaic restrictions. NPs could easily volunteer in remote locations or other areas where supervising physicians would be unavailable. Thank you.
State Contact Numbers:
NC House: http://bit.ly/2CVneDK
NC Senate: http://bit.ly/2DamgAn
-------------------
Medicaid Expansion:
Keep working on this one. We are now seeing the destructive impact of the NC GOP’s refusal to expand Medicaid. Because the NC GOP stubbornly refuses to allow the Affordable Care Act to work like it should, thousands of North Carolina residents have been unable to get health coverage. This will potentially have a huge impact when it comes to providing treatment for people with the Coronavirus. But it also impacts us in other ways. Vidant Health, in Greenville, was forced to lay off nearly 200 employees because of budget shortfalls due to people receiving treatment but being unable to pay their bills.
As G.K. Butterfield explains it, “Rural hospitals operate on razor thin margins and often do not have the capacity to absorb these costs. Studies have found that when states expand Medicaid uninsured rates for low-income adults decline drastically, which reduces uncompensated care and gives lifelines to rural hospitals. The General Assembly’s decision not to expand Medicaid has not only harmed patient access to care and the overall health care system of eastern North Carolina, but the economy as well.” With so many people facing financial difficulties, now is the time to remind our lawmakers that expanding Medicaid would not only save lives but also would protect jobs in rural communities. This call is most urgent if you have a GOP rep, as most Democrats already support it.
Details:
https://www.wakeweekly.com/stories/butterfield-blames-lawmakers-for-vidant-health-layoffs-sw,203418
Script:
Hello, I am a constituent calling from ____________ to urge Rep./Sen. ______________ to support Medicaid expansion. We are facing a massive, costly public health crisis, and we need to provide people with the health coverage they need for this kind of emergency. In fact, 400,000 people would be able to get health insurance. The layoffs by Vidant Health also show that rural communities continue to suffer because of the refusal to expand Medicaid.
State Contact Numbers:
NC House: http://bit.ly/2CVneDK
NC Senate: http://bit.ly/2DamgAn
No comments:
Post a Comment