So You Want to Save Health Care: Here’s How (by Jeneva Stone)
Little Lobbyist Angela Carpenter Gildner at the U.S. Supreme Court after advocating for our families. Angela has blond hair and is wearing a black face mask with the words “Health Care Voter.” She is also wearing a navy blue Little Lobbyists t-shirt. The white marble steps and columns of the Supreme Court are in the background.
The 2020 election bears down on us now like a freight train on steel tracks, the hardwood ties that bind them blurring underneath it. My eyes are focused on that coming train, my viscera tightened for impact. But I must act.
What can I do? What can you do? Little Lobbyists has officially endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president and vice president because we believe this country needs better and more accessible health care.
If it’s not obvious by now, it should be: Health care forms the bedrock of a functioning and sustainable economy. And, yes, it’s also a human right. Access to affordable, robust health care means you can get sick and still hold onto your job. Health care decoupled from employers means you can change jobs without risking your family’s health.
For those of us caring for family members with complex medical needs and disabilities, access to health care--whether through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Medicaid, or the Medicaid waiver system--allows both our children and their families to survive and thrive, our children living at home where they belong. And, more than that, these baseline supports allow us, as parents, to work to support our children’s other needs, including housing, technology, and transportation. In fact, medical support gives us the time and space to be parents to our children, not just caregivers.
Here’s what you can do to help elect a president, senators, and representatives whose focus in 2021 will be on preserving our health care:
Show your support on social media. Change your social media profile pic to show your support for Biden-Harris and health care. Convince friends and family to do the same. Add one of our profile pic frames! Just search “Little Lobbyists” when changing your Facebook profile picture. And check out Team Joe’s digital tool kit. Take selfies wearing LL’s health care t-shirts.
Share your story with us. Little Lobbyists will work to make your voice heard on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms. First of all, share your story with us at Little Lobbyists! Be sure to follow and tag us on Facebook, on Instagram (@littlelobbyists), and on Twitter (@LittleLobbyists). Want some data for your own social media posts on health care? Get it at Health Care Voter and Protect Our Care, and be sure to tag them (#HealthCareVoter, #ProtectOurCare) when posting.
Phone bank or text voters. Ok, take a deep breath and set your social anxiety aside. The Biden-Harris campaign needs you to volunteer: make phone calls and/or text voters to get out the vote (GOTV). Sure, you’ll get hang-ups, some people might be a little mean, but, remember, Trump won Michigan in 2016 by only 10,704 votes. That’s about 2 votes per precinct. Change the minds of just 2 voters, and you might help tip the election in swing states. You’ll get a script and dial-in instructions that will identify your computer or phone as a Biden-Harris campaign number. Have a special knack for talking to Midwestern voters? Indivisible Chicago has a Three States, One Mission campaign (Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan).
Write postcards to voters. More comfortable putting your thoughts into words? Tell others why you’re voting for Biden or a Senate challenger in a swing state. Try Postcards to Voters. You’ll need to register with the group, write a sample card, and get approved. Too many thoughts for a postcard? Write letters for Vote Forward.
Organize others. If you’re feeling more ambitious, you can be a Vote Mobilizer with MoveOn. You can also Take Action with Indivisible. The Arc has a page full of resources for health care advocacy for people with disabilities. In the end, GOTV is all that matters--getting those voters to actually cast those ballots.
Plan your vote. Have questions about voter registration, vote by mail, absentee ballots, early voting, locations of official ballot drop boxes in your state? Are you fielding questions from friends and family you need help to answer? The Biden campaign has a resource here, and the late-night host Stephen Colbert has an extensive website, Better Know a Ballot.
Health care matters. Health care saves lives. Health care is a human right. To protect health care, save the ACA, and work toward a plan for health care for all in a new Congress, under a new President--VOTE, SHARE YOUR STORY, PERSUADE OTHERS, and ORGANIZE!
This election is a freight train bearing down upon us all at frightening speed, with about a month to go. One candidate wants to derail health care. The other, Biden, wants to protect our care and protect us. If health care matters to you, the choice is clear. Do something. And be sure to vote.
Jeneva Stone is the blog manager for Little Lobbyists.