Health Care

A recent survey from Ipsos on behalf of Consumers for Quality Care (CQC) found that consumers are deeply frustrated with the health care system. A broad, bipartisan majority of voters (77%) believe that policymakers are focusing on the wrong things to improve health care and they want a new approach from politicians to tackle costs and ensure greater clarity in the system. High health care costs are hurting Americans. CQC is working to ensure that patients – and their right to high-quality and affordable health care – remain at the forefront of the health care debate. We need meaningful changes to our health care system that will improve care for consumers throughout the United States. Americans are deeply frustrated with hospital fees and unexpected bills, insurance costs like premiums, copays and deductibles, and escalating out-of-pocket costs and we support: Making health care more accessible, higher quality and less costly; Making health care policies, procedures and processes clearer for patients and their families; and Not increasing out-of-pocket costs. With Americans uncertain at every step of the health care process and unable to predict how much they are going to have to pay, the time is now to make improvements to ensure we are not paying more than we need to be and that the lack of clarity in the system doesn’t stand in the way of our health. We urge policymakers and the health care industry to address policies and practices that put an undue financial burden on American health care consumers.

Every day, 43 children are expected to be diagnosed with cancer. Every year, approximately 15,600 children are diagnosed with cancer.  Every year, approximately 2,000 children pass away from cancer.  Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease in children under the age of 19. 84% of children diagnosed with cancer will live at least 5 years after their diagnosis. Yet this percentage fails to reflect the long-term side effects many patients experience after months or even years of cancer treatment.  One in 285 children will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 20.  One in 5 children diagnosed with cancer will not survive.  These statistics represent the harsh reality of childhood cancer in the United States alone. What is even more alarming than the sheer magnitude of these numbers is the insufficient federal funding dedicated specifically to childhood cancer research—just 4%. In other words, only four cents for every dollar of federal funding available for cancer research.  As a result of a lack of funding, childhood cancer patients who aspire to become future doctors, lawyers, dancers, etc. may never get the chance to change the world. The National Cancer Institute is responsible for controlling the allocation of federal spending on cancer research and we demand that the Institute prioritize our children—our future—by increasing funding for childhood cancer research.  The effects of severely underfunded childhood cancer research are evident in the fact that in the past twenty years, only four new drugs have been developed specifically for childhood cancer treatment. Yes, you read that correctly. Only four. Childhood cancers can NOT be treated the same as adult cancers.  The National Cancer Institute can NOT continue to fail the children fighting every day of their lives, unsure if they will even get to see a tomorrow.  Together, let’s fight alongside our childhood cancer fighters until they receive the funding they deserve. Our children are worth more than only 4%. To donate to Cards Against Cancer's fundraiser, click on the link below.  https://secure.qgiv.com/event/diy-2020/account/976858

We are confronting a hard reality: U.S. hospitals do not have enough ventilators to meet the spike in respiratory failure that the novel coronavirus is projected to create. As ventilators are pressed into round-the-clock use, repair and maintenance issues will increase. While some ventilator manufacturers provide the service information that biomedical technicians need, other manufacturers make it hard to access manuals, read error logs or run diagnostic tests. We need to remove those barriers now. Add your name: Manufacturers must release the service information hospitals need to fix and maintain our vitally important ventilators. Hospitals in the United States don’t possess enough ventilators to meet the demand that COVID-19 is expected to create -- a reality that could have dire consequences for patients who will need these devices to breathe. As global demand for ventilators spikes, as manufacturers face heavy backlogs, and as factories are compelled to stop selling internationally, it will be nearly impossible to get enough ventilators into U.S. hospitals in time to meet the onslaught of critical cases. We’ll need to press older models into service that hospitals keep in store for emergency purposes. There are nearly 100,000 older ventilators around the United States -- but some will need repairs and maintenance, and that will require access to service information. Join us in calling on manufacturers to release the vital service information hospitals need to service and maintain all viable ventilators in the United States. Medical device manufacturers and trade associations actively lobby against Right to Repair reforms, which would mandate access to repair information and service software. While some manufacturers provide access to what technicians need, others do not provide full access to service information for their ventilators. On one independent online repository for ventilator service information, the message "Download prohibited by Dräger. Support is not desired" appears next to the deactivated links to service manuals, instructions and technical documentation for Dräger ventilators. Qualified repair technicians need access to manuals and other critical information to keep hospitals’ emergency ventilators up and running. Manufacturers claim that repairs done by independent technicians are not as safe or reliable as those done by the manufacturers’ technicians. The data says otherwise. An extensive 2018 study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration investigating repair and maintenance issues found that independent technicians, hospital technicians and manufacturers all “provide high quality, safe and effective servicing of medical devices.” Qualified hospital and independent technicians must have access to the proper information during this public health crisis. Tell ventilator manufacturers to free up service information, including repair manuals. Thank you, U.S. PIRG  1. Sarah Kliff, Adam Satariano, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Nicholas Kulish, “There Aren’t Enough Ventilators to Cope With the Coronavirus,” New York Times, March 18, 2020. 2. Jason Koebler, “Hospitals Need to Repair Ventilators. Manufacturers Are Making That Impossible,” Vice, March 18, 2020.  3. Sarah Kliff, Adam Satariano, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Nicholas Kulish, “There Aren’t Enough Ventilators to Cope With the Coronavirus,” New York Times, March 18, 2020.  4.  Sarah Kliff, Adam Satariano, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Nicholas Kulish, “There Aren’t Enough Ventilators to Cope With the Coronavirus,” New York Times, March 18, 2020.  5. “United States Resource Availability for COVID-19,” Society of Critical Care Medicine, revised March 19, 2020.  6. “United States Resource Availability for COVID-19,” Society of Critical Care Medicine, revised March 19, 2020.  7. Jonathan Cohn, “How To Get More Ventilators And What To Do If We Can’t,” Huffpost, March 17, 2020.  8. “State Affairs -- 2018,” Advanced Medical Technology Association, accessed March 20, 2020.    9. Jason Koebler, “Hospitals Need to Repair Ventilators. Manufacturers Are Making That Impossible,” Vice, March 18, 2020.  10. “Ventilators Service Manuals,” Frank’s Hospital Workshop, accessed March 20, 2020.   11. Jason Koebler, “Hospitals Need to Repair Ventilators. Manufacturers Are Making That Impossible,” Vice, March 18, 2020.  12. “FDA Report on the Quality, Safety, and Effectiveness of Servicing of Medical Devices,” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, May 2018.

The Black Women's Health Coalition will move to address health inequities, gaslighting among African American patients, and the lack of empathy and sensitivity displayed by some medical professionals when interacting with African American patients during a health crisis. We are committed to tackling the racial injustices that produce these statistics within the African American community in healthcare, and we are asking you to do the same.  BWHC is brought to you by African American women who are tired of being gaslighted, misdiagnosed, ignored, and mistreated. Enough is enough.We are asking the top ten hospitals to take a stance. Join us in this movement together. *For inquiries, please reach out directly to blkwomenhc@gmail.com. HERE ARE THE TOP TEN HOSPITALS: (click hospital to send pre-written emails to the hospital's leadership) Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Johns Hopkins Hospital Grady Memorial Hospital Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center  The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Hospital  University of Cincinnati Medical Center Massachusetts General Hospital Stanford Hospital Detroit Medical Center Emory University Hospital We've included a PLEDGE for each hospital and medical staff to sign, print, and post inside of their working area. Click PLEDGE to view. HERE ARE THE FACTS: 50% of Caucasian medical trainees believe that African Americans have less sensitive nerve endings than White people. African Americans are 50% less likely to receive pain medication than Caucasians. African American women are three times more likely to die during childbirth than Caucasian women. African American women are more likely to receive a hysterectomy for pain compared to white women receiving alternative health options. African American women are 50% less likely to be diagnosed with endometriosis. African-American women are less likely than white women to receive evidence-based care for endometrial cancer. Some estimates show that 26% of African American women between ages 18 and 30 have fibroids. HERE ARE OUR DEMANDS: ACCOUNTABILITY -- Develop a patient advocacy board that is led and driven by members. This board should include patients and family members an opportunity to discuss their experiences during visits. EDUCATION FOR ADOLESCENTS -- Provide educational community outreach programs such as seminars and speaking engagements to appropriate-aged children around women’s reproductive health issues. Sharing knowledge with appropriate-aged children about specific health disparities and diseases that may affect them allows the medical community to be preventive, instead of reactive. DIVERSITY TRAINING -- Require more effective and efficient training for all medical professionals and staff in areas such as racial and ethnic diversity awareness and discrimination in healthcare. This allows for medical professionals to be equipped properly when interesting with a diverse patient population. CLEAR COMMUNICATION -- Review all organization communications and publications such as magazines, pamphlets, websites, newsletter, for racial divides and inaccurate verbiage that may prevent African Americans not to receive the necessary care or treatment as other patients.  PAIN MANAGEMENT AWARENESS -- Develop pain management norms and policies for addressing every patient equally dealing with pain. Implement changes to prevent medical professionals from gaslighting African American women. Gaslighting mainly causes mistrust, emotional damage, trauma among patients, and manipulates patients into believing that it’s all a psychological or mental problem rather than physical. INCLUSIVITY IN RESEARCH -- Ensure that all current and future research studies include African American women. Most research studies are conducted on white women, which can necessarily make it difficult to treat patients that are African American effectively. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP: Post and share provided graphics and tag hospitals.Use the hashtag #6forhealthequity when posting.Use the pre-written template to send letters to each hospital.Each day we will target a specific hospital to post about on social media. SUPPORTIVE LINKS: https://endometriosisnetwork.com/blog/endometriosis-racism-how-the-strong-black-woman-stereotype-hurts-endo-patients https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6167003/ https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2018/05/10/450577/health-care-system-racial-disparities-maternal-mortality/ https://www.healthline.com/health/endometriosis/endo-race-matters https://www.self.com/story/tia-mowry-endometriosis-black-women https://www.contemporaryobgyn.net/view/how-raceethnicity-influences-endometriosis   *For inquiries, please reach out directly to blkwomenhc@gmail.com.